I finally did it. I switched to sand! Need advice.

[ILLBETHEJUDGE]

After almost six months thinking about it, I finally switched to sand.
I used 100 pounds of play sand in my 55 gallon, I think my cories are loving the sand.
It took me almost 3 hours to get the job done. The task the took the longest was rinsing the sand.
I would like to know the proper way to clean sand, I also need a peaceful small fish to stir the sand. It has to be a small fish becauseI iI am at 85% of my stocking capacity.
I don't want mts because the reproduce to fast , it needs to be a fish that gets along with my bettas and my cories.
The Styrofoam cup is full of some of the gravel that was before in the tank, just to promote bb growth.

[Aurie]

Ok so if you want a "stir" then go with some trumpet snails

if you want a fish - at least 5 corydoras .. they kinda sift it, and look for food

How I clean my Tahitian moon sand (which is a bit heavier than play sand) is to swirl with 1 hand making a vortex and the other hand holding the syphon and it sucks the stuff out. If there's no soil under the sand (not a el natural walstad tank) then you can sift it with your hands to release gases and the sand will settle before the junk then the junk will settle on the top like 5 min later and then you can do the cyclone thing. (if you do this, turn off your filter) .....
With TMS you can just stab it like gravel.. I only get a small pinch on a 30% water change on a 29 gallon

Another one that burrows is a loach.. most are pretty expensive but sometimes you can find kulii loaches (long black eel looking ones) and they burrow but I'd have real plants and lots of em. They have a tendancy to uproot though. THey also love snails so if you did get MTS they'd eat them (along with pond and ramshorns)

[Kytkattin]

Kuhli loaches won't eat snails in my experience. Would have been nice if they did... My betta definitely ate way more than they ever have.

[Aurie]

then maybe it was clown loaches.. I know one of the loaches eats snails like crazy..

[ZivaD]

Originally Posted by Aurie

then maybe it was clown loaches.. I know one of the loaches eats snails like crazy..

Clown loaches are voracious snail eaters - love 'em for clearing up an unintended snail explosion!

[hdbikersbabe]

I have a stupid question. I was told not to have sand because it can kill the bettas when they consume it. I was told they will consume it because the pick off the bottom. I love my sand substrate and I hate marbles and rock, they get nasty to clean.

[Bombalurina]

Some people have reported piggy bettas eating the sand and dying when it compacts in their digestive tract, but I use sad and haven't had a problem. If you do have a betta who likes to 'graze', however, it might be a bigger risk.

[eemmais]

I'm going to start a tank with sand so I was wondering how you rinsed it? I heard you were supposed to use a pillow case? Thanks.

[hdbikersbabe]

Originally Posted by Bombalurina

Some people have reported piggy bettas eating the sand and dying when it compacts in their digestive tract, but I use sad and haven't had a problem. If you do have a betta who likes to 'graze', however, it might be a bigger risk.

Thanks so much for the information. I will keep an eye on them.

[hdbikersbabe]

Originally Posted by eemmais

I'm going to start a tank with sand so I was wondering how you rinsed it? I heard you were supposed to use a pillow case? Thanks.

I "wash" my sand by putting it in my tank, filling it with water and stir. I use a filter with poly fill instead of wasting my cartridges. I let the filter do it's work. I stir every couple of hours and it usually only takes a day. This saves on my water bill.