Questions on sand and filters

We are buying some sand and I was wondering how exactly do I put it into the tank? Do I put it in with the water and wait for it to settle with the filter off, I think we'd get the same thing happen if I put the sand in first and then added the water...

The filter I had has broken as it was very old and we've just bought one off ebay but I don't think it will come by friday so I may have to get the Axolotl on wednesday afternoon
The filter is a Aqua Nova NBF-500 Internal Filter with a flow rate of 500 Lph. It's "whisper quiet", a venturi air attachment and a spray bar. This model is used for a bit larger tanks than mine but the smaller was no available and mine is only just under this ones minimum. If I have any troubles I can put a piece of sponge over it to slow it down.

I have a little barrel for the Axolotl to hide in and some largish black stones to put on the sand and some plants for him to hide in. I have the pellets, water conditioner, bucket and siphon

Before you add the sand to the tank you will want to rinse, rinse, then rinse some more, and then rinse it again. The easiest way to do this is with either a pillow case or to put the sand in a bucket and dump off the water until it runs clear.

Oh awsome thanks heaps!

Hi Blaze,

I rinsed my sand by getting a very fine net and just sticking the hose in for 30mins.

I had 20kg of sand though so it took a while...

Oh wow thats a lot of sand! I will find a way haha. I'm not to sure as to where i can get the sand still. Mum suggested the landscaping place as it sells childrens sand and just pick the cleanest bit!? would this be ok if I rinse rinse rinse!

I would think so. "playsand" is available at a lot of hardware stores, and it sounds like that is what you're describing.

Yep! that sounds about it. Thanks everyone for your help!

Pool filter sand is also good. It is more expensive, at least here, but has very little fine sediment so rinsing it is a breeze. Even so, you might want to temporarily transfer your axie and filter to another container until the sand settles.

Yeah, how much more expensive though, cause I can get stuff that does the same thing for less. I'm not getting the axolotl until EVERYTHING is ready so I have nothing else to worry about other than him settling in =]

Here we go this is my tank. The black rocks are where the filter is supposed to be

The tank looks good.

I can't tell exactly how deep that sand is but if it is more than an inch deep you'll want to keep an eye for toxic gas pockets. If you run your fingers through the sand each time you do a water change or tank maintenance this will not become an issue.

It's around an inch and a half and yep i've done that ^^