Converting to playsand.

[sean]

Im planning on taking the large gravel out of my tank and replacing it with sand. I have searched hundreds of threads and it seems there is no real answer to the questions I have. Im concerned about disturbing my bateria colony so heres what I need to know. Should I vaccum my gravel and put an inch or so of sand over it.Or should I remove the gravel I have now and put down a fresh layer of sand. Im sure removing all my gravel will destroy the bio filter. I figure if I have to remove the gravel then I may possibly put it in a mesh screen bag to help re-cycle the tank. As of now my newts are in a large critter keeper until I figure out what to do. I have play sand from home-depot and my newt species is Notophthalmus.

 

[jennifer]

If you leave everything else in the tank as-is, then I wouldn't worry about it too much. There is probably enough biofiltration capacity in your filter media and elsewhere in the tank to keep things going (unless your tank is bordering on overcrowded with animals). Don't change your filter media at the same time you remove the gravel and you should be fine.

 

[sean]

Thanks Jen. I put my playsand in the aquarium and it looks great. Unfortunatly my PH is sky high at 8.9 !!! The sand has been in there a week and it wont go down. I have added alot of PH Down from my water testing kit and it will go down some but rise back up.I have tried this for the past three days. I have well water here and it test out of the faucet at 7.2,so why does it skyrocket when I put it in my tank. My tank was stable with the gravel so I am figuring its something to do with the sand. Could it possibly be treated with something or even be beach sand. The brand is Quikrete. I have about five java fern plants and one anubias and they are growing good and have already established some roots in the sand,so what gives?

 

[sean]

 

[jennifer]

What kind of pH test kit(s) are you using? To measure over pH 8 accurately with those liquid kits, you would need the "high range" kit.

What does the bag of Quickrete say? If it is made of crushed cement, that would drastically increase your pH, so that could be the problem. I cant' see anything else in your tank that would raise the pH so much.

Do NOT try to change the pH with those "ph UP" and "DOWN" solutions. As you see, they have a temporary effect, and the net result is rapid fluctuation in pH, which is really much worse than no adjustment at all.

If there are animals in the tank now, I'd take them out until you resolve the pH issue. I think you may have to change to a different kind of sand (assuming your tested pH of 8.9 is correct).

 

[sean]

No worries. I do not have the newts in there right now. I am going to wait until my tank is completley stable before I put my newts back in.I have been using the PH master kit which includes the high PH range tester. Earlier I put a huge dose of PH down in the tank and it has now dropped to 7.8 but I am not even going to continue with this method. Tomorrow I am going to bite the bullet and get the Moonlight sand specificaly for aquariums. Its about 22.00 a bag which seems rediculous but I am ready to get these guys in there permanent home.

 

[brian]

Quikrete sand contains lime, as well of a list of a few other things you can see on their website.

 

[sean]

Yep,im an idiot. Should have checked that out before I put it in there. So now I am wondering, will I have to change my filter and recycle the aquarium again? Could any residue that I leave be toxic enough to kill my newts?