Question: New tank for Gem

[axigeek]

The other day I picked up a lovely 4ft tank and stand and I'm excited about it. I'm thinking I will have to get her a tank mate later this year
I was wondering though, how much sand is enough for an axie in a 4ft tank?
Also, will I need a new filter or can I use the old one from the 2ft tank?

The tank is still cloudy from the sand at the moment.

 

[Boo Penguin]

Small layer of sand... maybe 2cm deep is enough. If the filter is big enough to handle the water volume for the 4foot tank then use it! It will cut down your cycling time

 

[iChris]

Looks like somebody was in a hurry to fill their tank and forgot to rinse the sand well!

I depends on the flow rate of the filter, your filter must be able to turn over the tanks water at least 3 or 4 times per hour. Calculate the total volume of your tank if you don't know it by using he following formula:

Length of tank X width of tank X hight of water, then devide that number by 1000 and this will give you the amount of water your tank holds.

Say if your tank holds 400L of water, you will need a filter with a flow rate of at least 1600L per hour to achieve good filtration. So to get the flow rate that you need, X the total water volume of your tank by 4. You can then go from there.

but I would think that your older tank being a smaller one, would have a smaller filter, so I would upgrade if you can, or keep your current one, but you may have to preform more frequent water changes.

If you upgrade, run both filters in unison for at least a month.

Also, don't forget to post pictures of your tank when it's finished!

 

[mekkha]

Personally I would remove some of the sand. I just read up on possible issues with deep sand in this thread http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...strate/74895-gravel-contradicting-advice.html

Gem is lucky

 

[axigeek]

Gem won't be going into this tank for at least another week or two, after all, theres no hurry, as she's quite happy in the tank she's in for the moment. That's plenty of time for the water and sand to settle, for me to work out stuff about getting real plants and rack up some cash to get a new filter and another hiding place or two

The sand looked ok when I had it in the bucket, but when I put it in the tank, it showed up bits of stuff thats not sand! oops! As for the depth of the sand, I've just measured it and it's just under 1 inch, so I won't be putting anymore sand in the tank. I can take sand out if need be, thats not a problem.

Thanx everyone for the advice