Rocks, Gravel, or Sand? A Newb needs help.

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Monocle

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Hello all, I'm a complete newb who's trying her best to set up a great tank for, hopefully, one juvenile axie in the near future. I'm currently debating on what tank floor covering I should get. I know I don't want to leave the tank floor bare seeing as it's glass, and I'm uncertain as to what the best form is. I already know that gravel causes issues, but what is the best type of sand?

Thank you for your help already!
 
A bare floor isn't actually that bad, the only problem is grip for the 'lotls - their chubby hands cannot grasp anything.
Sands come in many forms, the most common ones are playsand and fine gravel that is basically just like brown sand (both the same size) to begin with sand can be quite troublesome for a new tank... it must be washed vigorously beforehand and can take some time to settle to the floor.

Playsand (used in children's sandpits) can be bought at your local hardware store, aquarium sand can be purchased at your local pet/aquarium store and so can fine gravel.
Sand works nicely because it is easy to spot clean (with a pipette or turkey baster) it's not harmful if your axolotl ingests some as it can easily be passed, and overall it is more comfortable than spikey big rocks when your 'lotl takes a nap :eek:
 
I would say playsand is the best substrate. Its a nice colour and its also not expensive like sand from aquariums often is!
If you choose sand, the best way to wash it is to put it in an old pillowcase so all the fine sand which will cloud your water will be removed through the pillowcase. This will reduce the cloudyness of the water when you add the sand.
 
Playsand is great and really easy to keep clean. However, remember you only need less than an inch on the bottom of the tank because otherwise you can get dangerous gas pockets trapped in it.
 
Thank you everyone for replying! It looks like play sand is going to be my best option :D
 
I agree, but be sure to RINSE it in a bucket many, many times before putting it in the tank. It can cause a nightmare of cloudy water (at first) if you don't. You can also use the kind of sand made for swimming pool/spa filters - it is less powdery.
 
After talking to the workers at my local fish store, I've become somewhat concerned about the tole that sand would take on my filter. According to the shopkeep, it'd ruin most any filter I threw at it. What's the general concensus on sand regarding filtration?
 
Sand should be fine on your filter. Honestly, the petstore's advice isn't too reliable.
 
I have had both a waterfall filter and an internal filter with a spray bar, and the sand has NEVER cause ANY problems with either system. When you wash the sand and put it into your tank, add the water to the tank and let the sand settle. If you do happen to get sand in the filter, simply rinse the filter out in some tank water, that way you can retain some of the good bacteria.

I wouldn't recommend it, but if you use rock or gravel you need to make sure that the stones are MUCH larger then your axolotls head, simply because they can accidently swallow it. This can cause problems such as impaction. Not only that, rocks and gravel are much harder to clean as they tend to hide the left over food or poos and this will spoil your water and cause a build up of ammonia. While a gravel syphon(can't spell) is good, it DOES NOT pick up all of the left over **** in between the rocks or gravel.

Hope this helps:happy:
 
Hi Monocle,

I've used both internal and external filters with sand in my tanks and had no problems.

When I used internal canister filters they were situated quite close to the sand (the filter was quite ugly and stood out like a sore thumb so I was keen to keep it out of sight but not inaccessable) and whenever I needed to clean any gunk out of the sponges there was no sand at all to be found in the intake vents or the sponges.

For the external filters which I now use, the filter's intake pipes that draw the water into the filter are only a couple of inches above the sand in each tank and the sand remains undisturbed.

Petstore staff as nice as they may be, are there to make money for their business.
 
Looking into sand options, I found this http://www.aquariumguys.com/onyxsand.html is this sand acceptable? My instinct is yes, but now that I've been reading through the forums, I'm uncertain.

Also, does anyone have recomendations for colored sand? I'm a poor college student, and so can't afford crushed quartz at 40$, but I can do most other things... suggestions?
 
Monocle said:
Looking into sand options, I found this http://www.aquariumguys.com/onyxsand.html is this sand acceptable? My instinct is yes, but now that I've been reading through the forums, I'm uncertain.

Also, does anyone have recomendations for colored sand? I'm a poor college student, and so can't afford crushed quartz at 40$, but I can do most other things... suggestions?
Click to expand...

Hi Monocle,

The type of sand you've linked seems very rough and jagged and could injure the axolotl if expelled through the gills I think.

Childrens playsand is cheap and looks lovely. It can be purchased from most hardware stores. In Australia, I paid 6.00AUD for a 20kg bag of sand.

Coloured sand sold at aquariums and petstores tends to be very expensive.
 
Thanks, Havelock. I actually just continued doing research, and came up with this site http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/sand.php From what I can tell, the best sorts of sand to get are Silica, Aragonite, and Black Tahitian Moon Sand, with Play sand being less awesome, but entirely acceptable.

Does anyone have any experience with sands other than play sand? i was able to find this tahitian moon sand for a decent price:
http://www.petsmart.com/product/ind...-EEA8-DD11-B7E2-001422107090&mr:referralID=NA

Thoughts?
 
I use coloured sand (mixture of purple and white sand) which is a bit like Tahitian Moon sand I think. I got my sand from Bunnings for $2.99AUD per kg (only needed 2kgs). So far I have not had any problems. My sand is much courser (not sure if that's a word, if not it is now!) than playsand, but still small enough to be expelled through the gills.

Hope this helps
 
Depending on the mineral composition of the sand will you know how it effects the water. The effect would probably be very small but it's good to know what is most beneficial.

The links Monocle posted up are very helpful as it outlines common sands used the the pros/cons in using them.


This will give you a bit of information on sand if you want to know:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand
 
Heya, just a suggestion but have you considered using pieces of slate? Thats what I use in my tank and the Axies love it. Its really cheap and you can fit it together to make an almost flat surface for the axies to walk on. Its non slip so you don't have the poor little things sliding about, and its easy to secure plants in between the pieces. It also doesn't cloud the water up like sand does and it won't clog your filter. :) Only a suggestion but it works for me.
 
Slate is a good option. You just have to be careful of sharp edges, and be sure you can clean the 'gunk' from between/underneath the pieces on a regular basis.
 
That's what I've always been a bit concerned about, the debris being caught underneath would be almost unavoidable wouldn't it? the maintenance of slate probably isn't more than having sand although I'm just wondering about the availability of getting pieces of slate. I should try it though, to get a proper opinion on it.
 
You just have to be careful of sharp edges
Click to expand...
I'm using a piece of slate as part of a hide. Being overly paranoid, after I bought it I sat myself down in our driveway for a while and ground the edges of the slate on the concrete - It worked really well, the edges are now all smooth :happy:
 
To get the gunk off the pieces of slate literally all I do is brush them off with a (clean, treated) tooth brush every other time I change their water. By doing this it also gives you a chance to change the layout of the slate which my axies enjoy. I would also recommend getting some LARGE pebbles much bigger than the axies head so you can block up any small holes between the slate as I often catch my axies trying to burrow into small holes and I worry about them getting stuck. You could try a mixture of substrates, in my tank I have a mixture of slate, large pebbles and bare floor, I think they like the variety of surface texture :)
 
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