Question: Fern, java moss and sand maintenance question

[EEVEE84]

Hi all just a quick question:
I've recently upgraded to 3ft tank and I've got sand on the bottom (5kg forms about 1-1.5cm layer).
I spot clean the sand when i spot the poop and also stir it or just shuffle it around a bit from time to time (dunno maybe because I've got scared when reading about sand blackning and forming toxic time-bombs).

question is how do i maintain it? do i take it out and clean it every now and again or leave it be just spot clean and shuffle it around when using syphon for water changes? somebody on here once said they had the same sand for 10 years (without changing). so...what's the best thing to do with it?

second question: I have obtained a java moss or fern (it is a bamboo stick with thin green bits wrapped around it think it's fern or moss I don't know! )
Is that safe for axolotl? what are the advantages or disadvantages? It's just a single stick. Klaus doesn't seem to be bothered by it at the moment.
Is lack of sunlight and cold water ok for the little weed?

apart from that everything else is plastic or silk

thanks for your help!

 

[lollypop]

I have sand in my tanks, and I have never has to take it out to clean it, and unlike my fish tanks I find the lotls move it around enough to stop gas pockets forming. ( they do like to arrange the furniture )

As for the java moss I have it loose in the tank, my girly liked it to lay her eggs on, because it's relatively dark in there tank it just kind of plods along, so I have some in a pot on the window sill to grow some more, my goldie tank, and minnow tank used to run amok with the stuff, it was so thick.

I tend to leave it just floating about but if you go on you tube you can see how to make walls and cover unsightly things in your tank with it.

Hth

 

[EEVEE84]

Thanks the most important thing is that it won't harm Klaus
I take it the fern stick is ok in a dark place? Does it help with the oxygenation or ammonia cycle? Or is it just a live ornament? I guess to have a whole wall of it would be nice but quite a chore as far as mainenence goes?

 

[Kaysie]

Any live plant will help with oxygenation and absorbing ammonia. Unless your tank is really heavily planted, you shouldn't rely on it for all of your nitrogen cycle though.

Walls of java moss are much easier to control than floors of it. Then you don't have to worry much about gunk collecting on it. I've found java moss will grow pretty much anywhere. It's hardy and versatile.

To keep from developing pockets in your sand, all you need to do is have a thin layer. Anaerobic pockets develop in thick sand. They can also be prevented with coarse sand, as this allows more water circulation than very fine sand. But there's nothing wrong with having fine sand, as that's probably more natural. Just have a thin layer of it. As long as you stir it up once in a while and siphon off the mulm, you shouldn't ever have to remove it to clean it.