sand substrate

[Big Dummy]

I've got some fish for whom a sand substrate is reccomended (Geophageous,
African Peacocks) but I have always found in the past that sand inevitably
gets into the impellers for power filters and / power heads, destroying
them. 1) Is this the case or am I doing something wrong, and 2) if it is
the case, how does one set up a tank with a sand substrate (air lines only?)
and 3) what is a good alternative?

I don't want my fish hurting their mouths and ultimately getting injured or
dying due to the harshness of the substrate but I dont want to have to keep
replacing filters every two weeks. Advice would be appreciated.

DB

[NetMax]

"Big Dummy" > wrote in message
. net...

I don't know if the requirement of a sand substrate is being a little
overstated. I'm sure nature provides a variety of substrates, and even
sand sifters can ignore sand, if they are being fed processed foods (no
need to hunt in the sand for food). I don't think you would have any
trouble using a coarse rounded sand (too heavy to get into the filters
(or a fine rounded gravel), but I'll try to answer your questions
anyways.

> I've got some fish for whom a sand substrate is reccomended
> (Geophageous,
> African Peacocks) but I have always found in the past that sand
> inevitably
> gets into the impellers for power filters and / power heads, destroying
> them. 1) Is this the case or am I doing something wrong, and 2) if it
> is
> the case, how does one set up a tank with a sand substrate (air lines
> only?)
> and 3) what is a good alternative?

Position your intakes higher up, and away from areas the fish will be
digging around. I had a Firemouth figure out that his sand pit would not
refill if he blew the sand out over by the filter intake, smart fish,
clogged filter. Sand-proof filters are sponge filters (running on a
powerhead, perhaps powering a pro 60 bio-wheel for a wide spectrum
filtration. Using course sand or fine gravel will help keep it out of
any filter media.

> I don't want my fish hurting their mouths and ultimately getting
> injured or
> dying due to the harshness of the substrate but I dont want to have to
> keep
> replacing filters every two weeks. Advice would be appreciated.
>
> DB

Sharp coarse substrate can cause some damage (like erode the whiskers of
a cory), but rounded substrate of any size should not cause any damage
(unless a stone is so large to get stuck ;~). I've had Geos and they
have no problem moving gravel around, on a regular basis. My African
Peacocks never did much in the gravel, but I never bred them, so I don't
know how particular they could be. hth
--
www.NetMax.tk

[Big Dummy]

Thanks that does help

> know how particular they could be. hth
> --
> www.NetMax.tk
>
>

[Fish2Keep]

"Big Dummy" > wrote in message
. net...
> I've got some fish for whom a sand substrate is reccomended (Geophageous,
> African Peacocks) but I have always found in the past that sand inevitably
> gets into the impellers for power filters and / power heads, destroying
> them. 1) Is this the case or am I doing something wrong, and 2) if it is
> the case, how does one set up a tank with a sand substrate (air lines
> only?)
> and 3) what is a good alternative?
>
> I don't want my fish hurting their mouths and ultimately getting injured
> or
> dying due to the harshness of the substrate but I dont want to have to
> keep
> replacing filters every two weeks. Advice would be appreciated.
>
> DB
>
>

I'm a lover of sand substrate, not only does it look very professional. But
it great fun to watch your fish digging it up and filtering it through there
gills.
--
http://www.fish2keep.com
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