Question: Gravel

[daremo]

Hi

i live in argentina and I cannot find aquarium sand or anything suitable, so my axie is on a bare bottom tank with big river rocks, i'd like to give him some substrate but all my options are a bare tank or very small gravel, so how small could a gravel be if i chose to add it?
i dont want to risk him eating it so i'd rather keep a bare bottom tank but maybe if 1 mm gravel works fine i may be able to get that

thanks

 

[lea]

hi daremo
i have 1mm gravel on the bottom of my tank.....it is blue and i can tell when abby(i think i have to change his name, we thought he was a she but its not) has been eating the gravel cause he has a blue belly.
lea

 

[dragonlady]

Hi Daremo,

If you cannot find aquarium sand, how about play sand - sand that would be used in a child's sand box? When looking for sand, just make sure it is quartz sand and does not contain calcium carbonate (CaCO3) or sea salt. Here's an article about substrates: Caudata Culture Articles - Aquarium Substrates

 

[daremo]

so quartz sand its ok? i can find that one...
and another thing, if i add sand, will i go through a cycle again?

 

[lea]

from what i understand about cycling yes it will but there is good stuff in the filter already so it shouldnt be as bad as the new tank cycling..........so you will have to keep an eye on your water and do water changes.....but someone with more understanding on cycling will be able to tell you for sure
lea

 

[daremo]

another question, i bought a pvc tube for the axie, but how should i clean it to make sure there's nothing chemical or anything harmful in the plastic?
of course, the tube was never used ...

 

[dragonlady]

The article I gave you names quartz sand so you should be fine. Make sure you rinse it really well of course. Don't take out your ornaments or change your filter media when you change over.

As Lea said, it shouldn't impact your tank that badly as bacteria clings to any semi-porous surface it can. I would turn your filter off and take your axie out though until the sand settles - and it should settle in a few hours.

Just wash the pvc with a mild soap and rinse, rinse, rinse.

 

[daremo]

thanks!!!

 

[ttamra]

I don't think that adding the sand should have any major effects on the current status of the nitrogen cycle aside from providing more places for the beneficial bacteria to grow. In order to go through the nitrogen cycle again, there would need to be an increase in waste product so that the bacteria that is currently present can't decompose the new waste and more bacteria has to grow. As you have a bare bottom tank now there isn't really anywhere for bacteria to develop so you won't be disturbing anything.

I definitely agree that you should turn the filter off when adding the new sand, loose particles can get caught in the powerhead and can make it jam up if you leave it running.

Good luck!