Sand pros and cons

M

melissa

Guest
tell me about sand. good bad? easy to clean? got pebbles and i hate em. dont want to use large pebbles/rocks and my "smart" axolotls have a hard time figureing out wat is there food and wat is the ground.
would be ace if u told me how to maintain, prepare etc the sand and any useful hints about it cheers
 
hey melissa,

im not too sure when it comes to cleaning but im assuming that you would just replace the sand - its that cheap. In another thread someone mentioned what sand to use and that it could just be purchased from a landscaping place.
I dont use sand, but from what ive read on this site its the way to go. My axies dont eat the pebbles but i dont want to keep them to find out whether they find them appetising or not lol

With the way axolotls have there spax attacks, sand would easily be kicked up but easily settled again. You said that your axies have trouble figuring out what is food and what is the ground, do you not hand feed them?

See these threads, ive been reading through them and they have helped me decide what im going to do - they may help you
http://www.caudata.org/forum/messages/793/46981.html?1131399085
http://www.caudata.org/forum/messages/793/45845.html?1130153376
http://www.caudata.org/forum/messages/793/45096.html?1129215246

Good luck, let us kno how you go
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Get the sand. Rinse it well (I used a bucket, but others used pillowcases or burlap). Dump it in tank. Let sand settle. Siphon off the dust on top. Then spot-clean poo as needed with a turkey baster. It's SO much easier than gravel. I use heavier pool-filter sand, but some use really fine play sand. I don't have any problem with it being kicked up, but with the finer stuff, it could create little clouds.
 
Sand= super easy to clean with siphon thing, small gravel= real bad because axies might swallow them with food. Sand isn't too expensive, but i wouldn't want to have to replace it all the time like Jo-Leen said. OVERALL, SAND IS THE BEST SUBSTRATE (my opinion)
 
you shouldnt replace it every time you it needs cleaning, this would take out alot of beneficial bacteria. i just do a weekly siphon with my water change and pick up poop as i need to. and i have the peace of mind knowing my axies arnt going to eat anything that could block up their tubes and hurt their bottoms pooping them out
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I will be changing to sand soon, im waiting for a filter that ive ordered then i can start establishing the new tank with the sand and new filter.
I cant wait to re-vamp my babies home.

Thanks for all the help with the sand.
 
cheers all, sand way to go. could i still use my old external filter or would i need a new one> if so wat type?
 
no you dont need to change, as long as the out pipe isnt extremely close to the bottom
 
Ok this is an old thread but I'm curious - with sand - what happens to your filters? do you use a filter?

Sharon
 
If you're worried about your filter, try covering the intake with foam (i.e. take one like the ones intended to go inside Aquaclear filters and cut an "X" into it so it fits over the intake tube). This will prevent a lot of stuff from getting into the filter, messing up impellers, etc.

You'll have to rinse that foam once in a while in old tank water because it will gather poo and other stuff, too.
 
you can jsut place the inlet/outlets further up on a external canister, generally you can cut the pipe on a HOB and with a interal you just place it higher.
 
i know sand is probably the best thing for the bottom of any axol tank,but i felt the way i did mine suited me more.i got some small stone and i have about an inch or so all over the bottom of my tank for bacteria purposes then i have a layer of large smooth rounded pebbles on top so that the axies can not eat the smaller stone.to clean all i have to do is take out what waste the axies make with a stone cleaner which takes seconds to do.and my axies seem to love the stones to sit on because of the difference in heights and sizes of them lol they even move them around a little

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does any one feel that i have done the wrong thing here ,like to hear peoples views
 
no, yours seems fine, alot of people do the 'river rock' thing and as long as the rocks are bigger than the axies head you should be ok. i tried river rocks once, found them annoying because the siphon just couldnt get in and around them, one rock filled up the bottom of the tube
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as long as its all going well for you and the axies its ok!
 
I've had bare bottom tanks and slate/quartz covered bottoms - they were all lovely. Just getting some ideas for something new.....

Thanks for the filter tips.

Sharon
 
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