Intro & Question

[HyperFerret]

Hello peoples! I haven't ever been in the fishy area of PetsHub yet so I thought I'd say HI!

I have one 10 gallon, two 29's, and a 46 bowfront. All tanks are fresh water. However, the 46 isn't currently being used for fish. Right now it's a teranium. I think that's what it'd be called. I have non-aquatic plants in it, but the rocks I collected from my Grandmother's back yard. (Which is literally Lake Erie.) I think the rocks make the teranium look really spiffy! Some day .... I will remove my plants and rocks and my 46 will be salt water.

Anywho! My Question: At the bottom of my 10, could I put sand instead of rocks? Currently, the 10 only has 1 Blue Gourami and 1 regular male Dwarf Gourami. If I can use sand, how do I go about cleaning without sucking up the sand?

[ErickJ]

just put a powerhead about 3 inchins above the top of the sand, and it will keep the shit moving

[Tazwell]

Sand is awesome :D I have a 20 gallon with black Tahitian moon sand in it, and it looks GREAT! It's great for the bottom feeders, too.

However, if you get something like pool filter sand or play sand (Which is totally okay for aquariums- and it's cheap, too), it may be too light to vacuum the tank with. You will have trouble keeping the sand from being sucked up the siphon. But the Tahitian moon sand by Super Naturals (Black and white) Is great! It's heavy, so it won't get sucked up :) It goes for about $20-25 for a 20lb bag. You can stick the siphon right into the sand, and the sand will swirl around inside the vacuum, and just sink right back down. I personally just siphon the debris off the surface of the sand.

Also, since sand is so fine, it has no aeration to it. This means that stuff sitting in the sand may create gas pockets, and that can be harmful to the fish. But I've never had this problem before. Regular poking around in the sand will more than likely keep that fro happening :) But what I find really useful is a few adult Malaysian trumpet snails. They dig around in the sand all day long, and keep it nice and stirred up for you :)

[Punkygirl0101]

You can put children's play sand at the bottom? Would it be alright to use for golds?

[Sorathien]

there's a trick to having sand in a tank. to vaccume, you have to swirl the siphon over the surface to lift the poo to suck it up. then about once a week you have to use something like a straightened wire hanger and stir the sand to keep it aerated so anaerobic pockets of bacteria can't form. if they are allowed to form, they will break down fish waste into dangerous pockets of gas that get trapped in the sand. if those pockets get released, they can kill the fish.

another option is to have lots of plants (literally every inch of the bottom of the tank should be covered in plants) since the plant roots will churn up the sand and soak up nutrients.

the third option is Malaysian Trumpet Snails. these are snails that burrow through the sand during the day and keep it aerated for you. however they are considered pest snails in most tanks, and will breed out of control if you don't regulate their food source.

and its spelled "Terrerium"

[mr gerbil]

I'd be careful about playsand- some of it is dyed/treated with chemicals. Rinsing it with hot water should remove anything, though.

[Shellie]

I can confirm the Tahitian sand is too heavy to get sucked up. That was a bit of a surprise!

[Tazwell]

and its spelled "Terrerium"

Terrarium :)

[mynoven]

You can put children's play sand at the bottom? Would it be alright to use for golds?

I think it is a different kind of moon sand! I have read somwhere else of people using it. I could be wrong though *runs off to google*

:slaphappy

[mynoven]

ok googled: Ya, it's not the childrens stuff, it's: Tahitian Moon Sand

[Nell]

Play sand may also alter the pH of the water, so it needs to be tested first.
You can get different sizes of sandblasting sand, but with sandblasting sand you need to look at it carefully to make sure the sand grains are round and not sharp. Sharp grains will cut up your fish.
I managed to find some pure silica sand thats heavy and round. works great.

I am using sand for the new goldie tank. I did some research first to see what other people use and if sand would be okay for goldfish. Some people seem to think it might cause problems when goldfish suck it up when sifting the bottom for food, but I also didn't find any cases where it actually did cause problems. There's also the risk when using gravel with golds that they'll suck up a rock and get it stuck in their mouth if the gravel is not large enough.

Anyway, welcome to the fish section of Petshub! Got any pictures of your tanks that you could post?

[mynoven]

Oh look: she even said it in her post....lol:
Tahitian moon sand by Super Naturals

sorry!
so where did play sand come in at?? nobody said childrens play sand....were you assuming mel?? :confused:

[Tazwell]

No, I said play sand as well. It is different than Tahitian moon sand :) Yes, it is a good idea to test it first, as some may contain rock that will alter the pH. You can also use pool filter sand, which is cheap, and it's heavier than play-sand, too.

Cost-wise, SuperNatural's sand is not the way to go. Probably not easy to pay for if you have a large aquarium... However, their sand is sold specifically for aquariums, so it's safe, and it's very pretty, too! I prefer the black, because it looks GREAT with plants! But they also sell white. I ordered it off of Petsmart.com while it was on sale :)

[mynoven]

I didn't see play sand....*runs back to read for the 5th time*

NNEEEEEDDDD CCCOOOFFFEEEEE :p

[Sorathien]

i am using play sand in my tank. i bought it at lowes for my hermit crabs several years ago and have been recycling the same sand for years from crabs to fish. i like this particular brand of play sand because its very coarse, which is good for my live plants. i've had no problems with leeching or any harmful chemicals hurting the fish.

[HyperFerret]

Mynoven -- Lol, you're awesome. :slaphappy Tazwell mentioned play sand and Punky mentioned children's play sand.

Um ... I don't have any recent pics of my tanks but I can show you pics I have on my computer already. However, for some reason, I don't have any pics of either of my 29s. The pics are grainy cuz my camera is lousy.

How the 10 started

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p154/HyperFerret3/Somethings%20Fishy%20Here/Pictures011.jpg

10 Halloween

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p154/HyperFerret3/Somethings%20Fishy%20Here/Pictures017.jpg

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p154/HyperFerret3/Somethings%20Fishy%20Here/Pictures025.jpg

10 Christmas

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p154/HyperFerret3/Somethings%20Fishy%20Here/1stofCardTwo004.jpg

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p154/HyperFerret3/Somethings%20Fishy%20Here/1stofCardTwo008.jpg

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p154/HyperFerret3/Somethings%20Fishy%20Here/1stofCardTwo006.jpg

The 49 Bowfront

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p154/HyperFerret3/Somethings%20Fishy%20Here/2ndCard332.jpg

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p154/HyperFerret3/Somethings%20Fishy%20Here/2ndCard333.jpg

[mynoven]

I like the halloween one!! That is AWESOME!!!

[PooingCavy]

Hmm. Yard sale season is in the spring, in a few months. yay, big tank, here we come!

[Tazwell]

Now, I don't know anything about houseplant lighting-- I've always used natural sunlight. Do you know if plants will grow just as well, in terrariums, under normal Daylight (6700K) fluorescent bulbs?? Just curious, and I figured maybe you might know, since your bowfront looks so nice :)

[PooingCavy]

nice bowfront too.

just wondering, are ther such think as long bowfronts?

[Nell]

The ideal spectrum for house plants is pretty much the same as for aquarium plants. When growing plants under lights, you need to use fluorescent plant bulbs. The plant bulbs are usually around 6500k and can be used for aquarium plants too (these are the bulbs I use in my aquariums- same thing but much cheaper than special "aquarium plant" bulbs).
When growing plants under lights, the plants need to be close to the light... usually no more than several inches away, otherwise the plants won't grow right. The intensity of the light also needs to be pretty strong, but that will depend on the specific light requirements.

[Tazwell]

Hmm... I've been thinking of growing my bamboo in a terrarium with my fluorescent fixture, seeing as the 6700k bulbs are only $5 for a pack of two of them at Home Depot... I was thinking of converting my 40 gallon long into a planted terrarium for my frog...
So, will low-light plants grow just as easily with a few 48" daylight bulbs?

[Nell]

You shouldn't have much trouble getting a variety of low to medium-low light plants to grow in that sort of environment.

Lucky Bamboo (which is not really bamboo but actually a species of draceana) is extremely tolerant of a wide range of light levels and does well in a humid environment. Pothos and the trailing philodendron would do well, as well as peperomias, small ferns, small begonias. Some aquarium plants, such as anubias, can even grow out of water and make good terrarium plants.

The plants you choose will depend on what sort of moisture level you have, as some plants like the humidity but can't stand to have their roots constantly wet...

[Tazwell]

Cool, I'll look into that, then! Thanks :)

[HyperFerret]

nice bowfront too.

just wondering, are ther such think as long bowfronts?

Was that questioning the size of my tank? ....I think it's a 49. I was told it's a 49. It's a 40-something. ~???~ One second... ~Brian waves traveling~ Okay, I just went to Petsmart.com and I could only find a 46 Bowfront. Okay, so I have a *ahem* 46 Bowfront. What?! I knew that...

Anywho, hee-hee.

I actually decided to make a terrarium out of my [B]46[B] because my cats kept attacking my plants. So the 46 is like my nursery. Now, because my house is soooo dry, I'm constantly misting the plants. But the plants I have in there also really like the moisture. On the plant light thing though. I once had my plant light too close to the plants and ended up burning/scorching them. So I had to move the light higher.

Okay, gotta go now - AMERICAN IDOL!!!!!!!!!