Sand, pH and Plants..

[MarAzul]

I'm working on a small cory tank and I have sand for the substrate. The
(possible) problem is, a guy at Petco said the sand *may* raise the pH. I
have it in a bucket of water right now and will check the pH over the next
few days to see what happens.... But.. if the pH does go up, are there
plants that can help lower it? or am I just crazy to think that..?

This is the stuff, if it matters...
http://www.petco.com/product_info.asp?sku=...91&dept_id=%2D2

Mar
--------------------------------------------------
If the poodle got loose, I figured I could take it. I was armed.
- Laurell K. Hamilton from the Anita Blake series

[Jess Van Tassell]

"MarAzul" > wrote in message news:<n1r%c.15794$aW5.11506@fed1read07>...
> I'm working on a small cory tank and I have sand for the substrate. The
> (possible) problem is, a guy at Petco said the sand *may* raise the pH. I
> have it in a bucket of water right now and will check the pH over the next
> few days to see what happens.... But.. if the pH does go up, are there
> plants that can help lower it? or am I just crazy to think that..?
>
> This is the stuff, if it matters...
> http://www.petco.com/product_info.asp?sku=...91&dept_id=%2D2
>
> Mar
> --------------------------------------------------
> If the poodle got loose, I figured I could take it. I was armed.
> - Laurell K. Hamilton from the Anita Blake series

Your link was broken, perhaps it pointed to "Nature's Ocean Marine
White Sand Premium Marine Substrate"
http://www.petco.com/product_info.asp?sku=2990420791&dept_id=%2D2

I have no idea if this sand will change the pH or not. It is not
labeled aragonite (or calcium carbonate), which could cause problems,
nor is it labeled as crushed coral. I recently bought "Super Naturals
Aquarium Gravel Marine Sand" It is very very fine grained white sand
that has been inert in my freshwater community tank. I wouldn't
recommend white with plants though because it shows any little piece
of dead plant, fish poop, and algae grows on it as well. (It was my
fiancee's idea to get white, it was his tank to design)

If the pH goes up, ditch it. You'll spend too much time, money and
fish lives trying to make up for the water-altering sand. I've had
very good results with going to a garden store (Agway at the time) and
buying 50 lbs of brown "play sand." Rinse it well with a hose and
bucket (google for old posts about rinsing sand.)

Good luck, the cory's will love the sand.
-Jess

[Peggy Butterworth]

This made me think again about changing my tank from gravel to sand...
I'm really enjoying my little flock of corys. But I have a few
questions (of course!)

How would you change an active tank with gravel substrate over to sand?
Does sand require regular vacuuming? If so, doesn't that remove the
sand as well?
Should I just wait for my next tank upgrade and start with sand? (This
may take a while with my budget.)

Any help would be most appreciated.

Peggy


Jess Van Tassell wrote:
> If the pH goes up, ditch it. You'll spend too much time, money and
> fish lives trying to make up for the water-altering sand. I've had
> very good results with going to a garden store (Agway at the time) and
> buying 50 lbs of brown "play sand." Rinse it well with a hose and
> bucket (google for old posts about rinsing sand.)
>
> Good luck, the cory's will love the sand.
> -Jess

[MarAzul]

"Jess Van Tassell" > wrote in message
om...
>
> Your link was broken, perhaps it pointed to "Nature's Ocean Marine
> White Sand Premium Marine Substrate"
> http://www.petco.com/product_info.asp?sku=2990420791&dept_id=%2D2
>
> I have no idea if this sand will change the pH or not. It is not
> labeled aragonite (or calcium carbonate), which could cause problems,
> nor is it labeled as crushed coral. I recently bought "Super Naturals
> Aquarium Gravel Marine Sand" It is very very fine grained white sand
> that has been inert in my freshwater community tank. I wouldn't
> recommend white with plants though because it shows any little piece
> of dead plant, fish poop, and algae grows on it as well. (It was my
> fiancee's idea to get white, it was his tank to design)
>
> If the pH goes up, ditch it. You'll spend too much time, money and
> fish lives trying to make up for the water-altering sand. I've had
> very good results with going to a garden store (Agway at the time) and
> buying 50 lbs of brown "play sand." Rinse it well with a hose and
> bucket (google for old posts about rinsing sand.)
>
> Good luck, the cory's will love the sand.
> -Jess

I wanted to try white this time. I know it gets 'messy' but the tank is for
corys and a vac will take care of any mess anyway. I got a bag pf play sand
first to try and it wouldn't rinse clean enough for me.. plus, I don't like
the color. It's just such a blah shade of brown. :) I might get black sand
for my 10 gallon if I like this stuff...

Mar
--------------------------------------------------
If the poodle got loose, I figured I could take it. I was armed.
- Laurell K. Hamilton from the Anita Blake series

[Dick]

On Wed, 08 Sep 2004 13:48:27 -0400, Peggy Butterworth
> wrote:

>This made me think again about changing my tank from gravel to sand...
>I'm really enjoying my little flock of corys. But I have a few
>questions (of course!)
>
>How would you change an active tank with gravel substrate over to sand?
>Does sand require regular vacuuming? If so, doesn't that remove the
>sand as well?
>Should I just wait for my next tank upgrade and start with sand? (This
>may take a while with my budget.)
>
>Any help would be most appreciated.
>
>Peggy
>
>
>Jess Van Tassell wrote:
>> If the pH goes up, ditch it. You'll spend too much time, money and
>> fish lives trying to make up for the water-altering sand. I've had
>> very good results with going to a garden store (Agway at the time) and
>> buying 50 lbs of brown "play sand." Rinse it well with a hose and
>> bucket (google for old posts about rinsing sand.)
>>
>> Good luck, the cory's will love the sand.
>> -Jess

Hi Peggy,

I am a renegade on this question of vacuuming. I have 5 tanks with
different base conditions. The tanks all have plant growth ranging
from dense to sparse. I never worry about the bottom in my 75 and 29
gallon tanks. I just change 20% twice weekly and never move the
syphon around. Not much open space and I sure don't like messing with
the plants.

I have a 10 gallon quarantine tank that has 5 black mollies just to
keep it cycled. (the mollies are there just because I have too many
fry escape extinction) This tank has no gravel, but I keep a few
plants anchored to the bottom. This tank and one other 10 gallon (it
has very fine sand) have debris accumulate, so those two I pick up
what I can.

I have another 10 gallon with coarse blue, white and green gravel
that I inherited when I bought my 75 gallon tank used. I have the
same gravel in a 29 gallon tank. I see no accumulation to vacuum in
either of these two tanks, so they just get their water changes.

I never thought to rinse my gravel before using it. The fish had to
live with a day or two of fog, but they all survived and the fog
settled.

dick

[RedForeman ©®]

||| Your link was broken, perhaps it pointed to "Nature's Ocean Marine
||| White Sand Premium Marine Substrate"
||| http://www.petco.com/product_info.asp?sku=2990420791&dept_id=%2D2

|| I wanted to try white this time. I know it gets 'messy' but the tank
|| is for corys and a vac will take care of any mess anyway. I got a
|| bag pf play sand first to try and it wouldn't rinse clean enough for
|| me.. plus, I don't like the color. It's just such a blah shade of
|| brown. :) I might get black sand for my 10 gallon if I like this
|| stuff...

I tried black onyx sand for the first time, and I love it... perfect in a
10g with a black background.... check the binaries for a pic of mine...

--
| RedForeman ©® fabricator and creator of the ratbike streetfighter!!!
| ==========================
| 2003 TRX450ES
| 1992 TRX-350 XX (For Sale)
| '98 Tacoma Ext Cab 4X4 Lifted....
| ==========================
| ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤° `°¤ø,¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø
| ><((((º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·.¸. ><((((º> ·´¯`·. , .·´¯`·.. ><((((º>
| for any questions you may have....
| www.gmail.com

[Peggy A Butterworth]

I asked this earlier, but I think it got swallowed up in the thread.
Can anyone tell me the best way to replace gravel with sand in an
established tank? Do you vacuum the sand?

Thanks,

Peggy

Peggy Butterworth wrote:
> This made me think again about changing my tank from gravel to sand...
> I'm really enjoying my little flock of corys. But I have a few
> questions (of course!)
>
> How would you change an active tank with gravel substrate over to sand?
> Does sand require regular vacuuming? If so, doesn't that remove the
> sand as well?
> Should I just wait for my next tank upgrade and start with sand? (This
> may take a while with my budget.)
>
> Any help would be most appreciated.
>
> Peggy
>
>
> Jess Van Tassell wrote:
>
>> If the pH goes up, ditch it. You'll spend too much time, money and
>> fish lives trying to make up for the water-altering sand. I've had
>> very good results with going to a garden store (Agway at the time) and
>> buying 50 lbs of brown "play sand." Rinse it well with a hose and
>> bucket (google for old posts about rinsing sand.)
>>
>> Good luck, the cory's will love the sand.
>> -Jess

[MarAzul]

Welll.... bear in mind, I haven't done that (yet). I'm planning to change to
sand in my 10 gallon at some point.
My plan is to have either several buckets, or one large bucket/container as
I will save all the water. The water will get siphoned out and the fish (and
plants) will go into a bucket for a bit. I'll hook the filter to the side of
the bucket (if possible) to keep the bacteria alive. Once the tank is empty,
the gravel goes out and the sand goes in. (Make sure the sand is thoroughly
rinsed beforehand.)
At that point, about half(ish) of the old water will go back in the tank
and the filter will be added so the sand can have time to settle. Depending
on what kind of sand and filtration you use, it can take 5 minutes to an
hour for the tank to lose it's cloudiness.. Once it's clear, the fish and
rest of the water go back in..

Granted, that's just a basic outline, but you can get the idea.. Also, I
don't think I would do it with anything larger than a 10-15 gallon ('cause
I'm lazy). :)

Mar
-----------------------
Total Fishkeeping
http://totalfishkeeping.co.uk/index.php?

The Blood Parrot Forum
http://www.bloodparrot.aquariahobbyist.com/forum/

"Peggy A Butterworth" > wrote in message
...
>I asked this earlier, but I think it got swallowed up in the thread. Can
>anyone tell me the best way to replace gravel with sand in an established
>tank? Do you vacuum the sand?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Peggy
>
> Peggy Butterworth wrote:
>> This made me think again about changing my tank from gravel to sand...
>> I'm really enjoying my little flock of corys. But I have a few questions
>> (of course!)
>>
>> How would you change an active tank with gravel substrate over to sand?
>> Does sand require regular vacuuming? If so, doesn't that remove the sand
>> as well?
>> Should I just wait for my next tank upgrade and start with sand? (This
>> may take a while with my budget.)
>>
>> Any help would be most appreciated.
>>
>> Peggy

[Rick]

"Peggy A Butterworth" > wrote in message
...
> I asked this earlier, but I think it got swallowed up in the thread.
> Can anyone tell me the best way to replace gravel with sand in an
> established tank? Do you vacuum the sand?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Peggy
>
Hi Peggy

I have about 15 different varieties of Corydoras in species tanks and most
have sand and or sand/gravel mixture. Because of breeding I have moved
Cory's from tanks with sand to those with gravel. The gravel is fine
providing it is smooth, if not then I would remove the fish, remove the
gravel and add the sand. The water clears quickly and my fish have never had
a problem. There is of course a cycled filter running at all times and if I
happen to have my H.O.T Magnum running I'll hook it up to the tank I just
added sand to and it clears the water quickly. I use mostly "play sand"
available at places like Toy R Us which is sterilized and requires no
washing at all. Just dump it in. This is quite fine sand though and when I
vacuum I normally run the vacuum lightly over the surface. You only want
enough sand in the tank to cover the glass (at least I do) which helps
prevent fungus in these fish. If you siphon directly from your tank(s) to
your basement drain then be aware that you will vacuum up sand and it will
end up in your drain eventually causing problems.

Rick

[Dr Engelbert Buxbaum]

MarAzul wrote:

> I'm working on a small cory tank and I have sand for the substrate. The
> (possible) problem is, a guy at Petco said the sand *may* raise the pH. I
> have it in a bucket of water right now and will check the pH over the next
> few days to see what happens.... But.. if the pH does go up, are there
> plants that can help lower it? or am I just crazy to think that..?

Pure sand is SiO2, and will not increase the pH of water. However, if it
contains other material, in particular CaCO3, hardness and pH will
increase. You can test that easily: Mix some of the sand with vinegar.
If bubbles (CO2) form carbonate is present. If no bubbles form, mix the
sand with plenty of water, allow the sand to settle for a few seconds
and discard the water with the "fines". Repeat until the water is clear.
Then you can use it in a tank.