paekakboyz Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 Hi All, Have had my planted 4ft (350L) setup for nearly 3 years now and I've decided its time to change things up. Moving the tank to a new position and swapping brightwater gravel for sand - was really keen to get hold of black sand but no joy (esp at some of the prices I found!!) instead I have some nice dark grey/shimmery sand which will look pretty cool. Will be adding more driftwood (only have one med size piece at the moment) and sticking mainly to crypts, anuibis, apongenten and a couple of patches of dwarf sag (shocking spelling!!). Going to totally clean out tank when I strip it etc. And have some additional bracing put on the steel stand. Any tips for using sand as the substrate? I've read I need to let it settle so it doesn't munch my filter etc... due to time pressures I'll be doing it all in one day (a looooong day!). will take some pics of current state (inc the cyno!) and the new look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 Hi All, Have had my planted 4ft (350L) setup for nearly 3 years now and I've decided its time to change things up. Moving the tank to a new position and swapping brightwater gravel for sand - was really keen to get hold of black sand but no joy (esp at some of the prices I found!!) instead I have some nice dark grey/shimmery sand which will look pretty cool. Will be adding more driftwood (only have one med size piece at the moment) and sticking mainly to crypts, anuibis, apongenten and a couple of patches of dwarf sag (shocking spelling!!). Going to totally clean out tank when I strip it etc. And have some additional bracing put on the steel stand. Any tips for using sand as the substrate? I've read I need to let it settle so it doesn't munch my filter etc... due to time pressures I'll be doing it all in one day (a looooong day!). will take some pics of current state (inc the cyno!) and the new look. Sand - do not turn any pump or filtration equipment on until the sand has settled - otherwise youll break your equipment pretty fast. Most people use a fine-ish gravel (could use your brightwater if its about 2-4mm in pebble size) as the bottom layer, and then layer sand on top. Sand also easily gets gasses trapped in it which need to be realised occaisionally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LYNDYLOO Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 Tell me what happens when you Gravel Vac, if you use pebbles on the Bottom then Sand on top of the Pebbles. Does it not mix the sand and pebbles together?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dantedobe Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 Sand will work it's way under the pebbles and they will end up on top. Sand vacuuming is great just hover above it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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