Sand on the bottom..........

I'm about to set up the other 55g tank in the sunroom. Because it'll be
heavily planted I was wondering about adding rough builders sand to the
gravel. The question is.... how do you vac the gravel without sucking up
the sand? Or is that not a problem?
--

RM....
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö

On Mon, 08 Oct 2007 14:00:51 -0500, Reel McKoi wrote:

I'm about to set up the other 55g tank in the sunroom. Because it'll be
heavily planted I was wondering about adding rough builders sand to the
gravel. The question is.... how do you vac the gravel without sucking up
the sand? Or is that not a problem?

If the tank will be heavily planted you won't be doing much vacuuming
anyway :-).

And I know I've said it before, but the best homemade substrate I've found
is the coarse "tube sand" or "traction sand" with the really fine
particles sifted out. More like fine gravel than sand. My plants seem to
love it. And it's cheap :-).

"Larry Blanchard" wrote in message
news
On Mon, 08 Oct 2007 14:00:51 -0500, Reel McKoi wrote:

I'm about to set up the other 55g tank in the sunroom. Because it'll be
heavily planted I was wondering about adding rough builders sand to the
gravel. The question is.... how do you vac the gravel without sucking up
the sand? Or is that not a problem?

If the tank will be heavily planted you won't be doing much vacuuming
anyway :-).

And I know I've said it before, but the best homemade substrate I've found
is the coarse "tube sand" or "traction sand" with the really fine
particles sifted out. More like fine gravel than sand. My plants seem to
love it. And it's cheap :-).
==========================
Are you talking about the stuff in bags called "builders sand" used to mix
concrete? I haven't heard of it called traction or tube sand. They may be
the same product. Where did you buy it? True, plants do make vacuuming the
bottom difficult but fear the bottom will become a nitrate factory if not
vacc'ed at all.
--

RM....
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö

On Mon, 08 Oct 2007 19:47:04 -0500, Reel McKoi wrote:

And I know I've said it before, but the best homemade substrate I've found
is the coarse "tube sand" or "traction sand" with the really fine
particles sifted out. More like fine gravel than sand. My plants seem to
love it. And it's cheap :-).
==========================
Are you talking about the stuff in bags called "builders sand" used to mix
concrete? I haven't heard of it called traction or tube sand. They may be
the same product. Where did you buy it? True, plants do make vacuuming the
bottom difficult but fear the bottom will become a nitrate factory if not
vacc'ed at all.

No, traction sand is what you carry in the winter to put under your wheels
if you get stuck in the snow and ice. About 2/3 to 3/4 of it is fine
gravel in the 1/16" to 1/8" range. I sift out the finer stuff and throw
it away.

It may be different in your area - I live in eastern Washington state.

I haven't had any problems yet with gunk on the bottom, but I have a herd
of Maylasian trumpet snails in each tank :-).

"Larry Blanchard" wrote in message
news
On Mon, 08 Oct 2007 19:47:04 -0500, Reel McKoi wrote:
Are you talking about the stuff in bags called "builders sand" used to
mix
concrete? I haven't heard of it called traction or tube sand. They may
be
the same product. Where did you buy it? True, plants do make vacuuming
the
bottom difficult but fear the bottom will become a nitrate factory if not
vacc'ed at all.
~~~~~
No, traction sand is what you carry in the winter to put under your wheels
if you get stuck in the snow and ice. About 2/3 to 3/4 of it is fine
gravel in the 1/16" to 1/8" range. I sift out the finer stuff and throw
it away.

It may be different in your area - I live in eastern Washington state.

I haven't had any problems yet with gunk on the bottom, but I have a herd
of Maylasian trumpet snails in each tank :-).

OK, I'm not familiar with traction sand. We don't get a lot of snow and ice
here but will ask for it the next time I hit Lowe's, ACE or HD. Only
mystery snails are available here and they die in less than a month. I have
no idea why.
--

RM....
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö

On Oct 9, 1:45 pm, "Reel McKoi" wrote:
"Larry Blanchard" wrote in message

news




On Mon, 08 Oct 2007 19:47:04 -0500, Reel McKoi wrote:
Are you talking about the stuff in bags called "builders sand" used to
mix
concrete? I haven't heard of it called traction or tube sand. They may
be
the same product. Where did you buy it? True, plants do make vacuuming
the
bottom difficult but fear the bottom will become a nitrate factory if not
vacc'ed at all.
~~~~~
No, traction sand is what you carry in the winter to put under your wheels
if you get stuck in the snow and ice. About 2/3 to 3/4 of it is fine
gravel in the 1/16" to 1/8" range. I sift out the finer stuff and throw
it away.

It may be different in your area - I live in eastern Washington state.

I haven't had any problems yet with gunk on the bottom, but I have a herd
of Maylasian trumpet snails in each tank :-).

OK, I'm not familiar with traction sand. We don't get a lot of snow and ice
here but will ask for it the next time I hit Lowe's, ACE or HD. Only
mystery snails are available here and they die in less than a month. I have
no idea why.
--

RM....
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Too bad most FW enthusiasts do not pasy as much attention to "cleanup"
crews as SW folks do. There is all kinds of suitable clean up critters
out there but they are pretty drab looking as compared to sal****er
critters, so therefore they tend to be ignored. Thats one reason they
are hard to find in most LFS as no one is gonna buy that drabold
critter when they can get a flashy pictus cat or a golden nugget
pleco..........

RM.any of the sand with the exception of calcium based (old castle or
southdown) is fine. So just look for grain size that suits you. If
in doubt if its calcium (limestone based) take a smallbottle of
vinegar with you and apply a couple of drops to the sand or gravel and
if it fizzes its limestone or calcium based...........which would not
b e good unless its used in a african cichlid environment. You'll
find the calcium / limestone based sands moreinthe paver section as
they tend to quarry rocks and grind it and its limestone they usually
use for that.........and it can be usually a grey or white in color.
Silica or quartz based looks like sugar and is uniformin grain size
(about like sugar|) and plain silica based masonary is a tan to yellow
color and is commonly used in m,asonary work / concrete etc. I wold
not pay any attention to tube, traction or what have you as it matters
not. Its just a packaging and nameing game so do not let the package
name sway you one way or the other. Look for color and grain size and
what type of sand it is.not its intended use. If its stated for
masonary or concrete or playsand you can pretty well guaraantee its
free of mud and mica particles, and only needs a good washing. They
also sell a sand called river run which is commonly sucked form river
bottoms and is a brown in color. It is usually washed by the dredge
company prior to it being marketed and it too is used in masonary and
is perfectly suitable, but I have never seen it in bagged packs, only
huge outdoor piles.