Sand for tank

[PinkSkullCity]

I have a question. Do you guys prefer big river type rocks for your tank or sand? I have both and I dont know which one to use, but the sand I have I hate i dont know what kind it is but its so clumpy.

Thanks

 

[dragonlady]

I have had both in my tank and have to say that I love the sand. The rocks caught and held so many nasties despite my best housekeeping efforts that I just got tired of those and switched to a thin layer of sand.

I'm not sure what sand you have that is clumping, but I use children's play sand like you can get from most home improvement stores, Wal-Mart, or even Toys-R-Us. I sift mine for gravel and then rinse the heck out of it. I use about 1/2" in my tank and replenish every few months as needed as the vacuum does pick up a little of it, but not bad.

If you haven't read this, here's an article about substrates.

 

[SanderB]

I would recomend sand. I think this is the best solution. I have had small rocks too but one day my axolotl was dead because he swalowed a rock. Since I had sand there where no problems.

 

[kuphie]

Large rocks are no contender against sand, they hold to much waste and makes the water cloudy. I use Tahitian moon sand and wouldn't have it any other way. Beautiful black sand makes my green plants pop. :happy:

 

[carsona246]

I just bought a 50 pound bag of playsand from lowes for like 4 bucks. I've only used sand once before, but the playsand doesn't seem clumpy

 

[Buck Rogers]

I am really glad I saw this post. I live in South Africa and all exotic amphibians are banned for import so what ever amphibians that are in the country are floating around (excuse the pun) under the radar. I was very lucky to find a pair of axolotls a few weeks back in a pet store where they were being kept in very sad conditions and very skinny, I have managed to get them back to good health (despite the missing feathery gills) and hope to have them ready to breed next year. My main concern was because they could quite possibly be the last available pair was the risk of losing one to impaction so I have used large pebbles as substrate, but as with this post I have noticed the mess under the pebbles is very bad. I have some golden snails to do the clean up but they can't get under the pebbles obviously.

I have wanted to move them onto playpen sand but now I am comfortable to do it after reading this.

My one concern is does the soil not become too powdery and when they swim will they turn up big clouds of sand or does it clump nicely on the floor?

Also will I be able to plant some aquatic plants directly into the soil?

 

[siona]

I'm currently using chunky round stones, but it's not so much the mess that bothers me about them (I use a gravel cleaner pump several times a week) but my porr little guys don't seem to like having to scrabble over them! I never thought sand would be so recommended...wouldn't they suck in mouthfuls of that like they would with gravel? Also, how is how do you keep sand clean? I would imagine more dirt would get trapped in sand than large rocks...

 

[Yobbo]

I'm currently using chunky round stones, but it's not so much the mess that bothers me about them (I use a gravel cleaner pump several times a week) but my porr little guys don't seem to like having to scrabble over them! I never thought sand would be so recommended...wouldn't they suck in mouthfuls of that like they would with gravel? Also, how is how do you keep sand clean? I would imagine more dirt would get trapped in sand than large rocks...

Hi Siona. I recently bought a 3-foot tank complete with two axolotls from an on-line auction. I didn't intend to keep the axies as I wanted the tank and filter for fish but, as they were in poor condition due to neglect I decided to 'condition' them and then sell them to my local fish shop.

However after just a couple of days (during which time I found this forum) I decided that I was going to keep them. :happy:

They had been kept with large river rocks for a few years and, as I bought the whole set-up that's what I initially used. However, as you've noticed, they have trouble scrabbling over the rocks and mine would keep bumping their heads into the next rock... I didn't like watching them do that.

So, after reading here, I went out to a garden centre and bought some fine sand. They had several types of sand so I bought the heaviest, which was also the finest. I washed it well before using it, 1/3 of a bucket of sand, filled with water, swirled around and then poured off. It took about 20 rinses for each lot of sand!

My axies love it! They seem to enjoy wandering around a lot more now than they did with the 'boulders'. Also any 'dirt' just lies on top of the sand (as it's quite dense and compacted) where it's easy to siphon out. They do take a little bit in when they eat but then they just spit most of it back out as they 'chew' their earthworms. :happy:

The difference was like night and day. The axies are happier, the tank is cleaner and looks way better. I'd never go back to having stones on the tank bottom.

 

[siona]

Thanks Yobbo, I agree - I intend to make the change this weekend and I'm really looking forward to it! Hopefully my axies will enjoy the change as much as yours have