Black Sand

[wvgdiscus]

Re: Black Sand

Your better off going with the Bristlenose as the stay small & will not attach to other fish. I would put a prefilter on the in coming tube of your filter as well. Sence the the filters were used before you got, I think you should clean them out very well, maybe boil the media for around 30 minutes to make sure nothing bad was still in them. Better to be safe then sorry.
I do agree with Scott the continous fill & drain is a good why to get the bio going.

Walter

[SCOTT]

Re: Black Sand

O-cats arent leach fish at any point in their lives. Unlike the chinese algae eaters, these guys are content to eat algae their whole lives. As for the fill and drain, that does nothing for the bio filter at all, it is strictly to clear the water. The only reason to put a prefilter would be if worried about sucking fry into the filter. Once the sand settles there is no worry of sucking it up, unless like I said you are jetting across the bottom. Sand is very dense, and as such once saturated tends to stay on the bottom of the tank. After the sand sets up for a few days you can take your hand, run it through the sand, make a nice big mess, and within just a few minutes it will all have settled to the bottom again. If you are worried that sand particles will find their way into your pump, then a simple sponge filter will be more than adequate as a prefilter. There is one benefit besides prefiltering if using a sponge, you get a nice in tank bio habitat. The downside, you will need to clean the sponge fairly often to keep the flow rate up.

[szidlon]

Re: Black Sand

Well, progress at last.  I have managed to paint the back of the tank.  Rinse and put the ColorQuartz in, put my filter intakes and spray bars in place and start the continous fill and drain.  Actually, I was surprised at how little discoloration there was to the water.  It had a slight grey tint (black substrace) so I decided to do the fill/drain method just to clear up what tint there was.  I figure I'll let it run for three or four hours.  The flower bed needed watering anyway.  Now if I can just get than darn, huge piece of driftwood to absorb enough water that I can take the rocks off the top, I'll be happy.  Next will be the planting and the remainder of the rock "furniture".  I know this is probably boring to everyone but me, but I just like to share.  

Thanks for all the helpful advice, I'm sure I'll be needing more as I get further involved with this addiction, err, passion.

Nancy

[Smokin_Cache]

Re: Black Sand

Not boring at all!! Keep the updates coming.

[wvgdiscus]

Re: Black Sand

If you have a pot that will hold the driftwood, you can boil it for about an hour. It will sink like a rock after that.

Keep us posted.

[szidlon]

Re: Black Sand

If I could find a pot big enough it wouldn't fit on the stove.  

It's about 20" tall with a diameter of huge!  It just barely fit in through the top of the tank.  It's going to take me forever to plant all these plants so it  may sink before I get the plants planted.  It's a good thing I'm not in a hurry.  I got some of the plants in and have the rest floating for now.  I'll try to get the rest planted tomorrow evening.  I think I over did it on the plants, but there's still the 20 long I haven't set up so at least the sorter ones can go in there.  Most of the plants are 12" to 20" tall so I may not have room for fish when I'm done!

[John]

Re: Black Sand

Well I am going to go check out this National Pool Tile Company. I am not sure what color I will go with but thanks gonefishing for pointing out this place! This stuff looks real good from what I have seen doing a Google search.

[HFBfounder]

Re: Black Sand

If I could find a pot big enough it wouldn't fit on the stove.  

It's about 20" tall with a diameter of huge!  It just barely fit in through the top of the tank.  It's going to take me forever to plant all these plants so it  may sink before I get the plants planted.  It's a good thing I'm not in a hurry.  I got some of the plants in and have the rest floating for now.  I'll try to get the rest planted tomorrow evening.  I think I over did it on the plants, but there's still the 20 long I haven't set up so at least the sorter ones can go in there.  Most of the plants are 12" to 20" tall so I may not have room for fish when I'm done!

I have what I call a stump and at first thought about boiling it to sink it, but then as it was in the tank floating, I thought it looked kind of cool and left it there. It's bouancy presses it to the center brace at the top of the tank and acts as though it's sitting on the ground, only, upside-down, which is cool because I can easily change the orientation every once in awhile and the fish seem to love the cover. You might try it.

[szidlon]

Re: Black Sand

Well I am going to go check out this National Pool Tile Company. I am not sure what color I will go with but thanks gonefishing for pointing out this place! This stuff looks real good from what I have seen doing a Google search.

John,

When you start rinsing the sand, especially if you choose a dark color, I'd advise wearing gloves of some sort.  I ended up with a real gothic look to my nails after rinsing the black  8O .

Not exactly my style!

I may well let my driftwood float for a while.  My Black Ghost has gotten really comfortable with it laying on it's side with boulders holding it down.  It has some nice deep ledges for him to rest in.


Nancy

[John]

Re: Black Sand

Thoes guys are very frendly over there. They even loaded it in my truck.
Thanks for the warning, I got it in tan. What is the best way to wash it? Would I use a strainer that has a fine mesh to it or some sort of screen?

[szidlon]

Re: Black Sand

I just used a small bucket and hose.  You know, fill, stir. dump.  It does take a while, but it's worth the effort.   This was my first experience with non-gravel substrate so I'm still on a learning curve.  I found the guys there very friendly as well, plus they are open on Saturdays which makes it even more convenient.

[John]

Re: Black Sand

Ah I didn't know they were open saturday and fought I-10 traffic to get there during my lunch break, though it will give me something to do tonight. The bucket idea sounds good. I will take pictures after it is in the tank.

Thanks

[szidlon]

Re: Black Sand

John,

Further back in the thread Scott talks about a continous drain and fill to remove the tiny, tiny residue that clouds the water.  I used that process and it worked really well.  That way I was not as concerned with ruining my filter with the fine sand going into the motor, impeller etc.

[John]

Re: Black Sand

Well I washed the sand off (3m colorquartz) in a bucket and dumped it in the tank. I then drained all the water and filled it back up and it is clear as can be. I will upload some pictures soon. Oh I got it in tan and it looks good.

[gonefishing]

Re: Black Sand

I rinsed mine in the sink using a 5 gal bucket and put about 2-3 inches of sand then 5-6 inches of water stirred it with my hand  and poured off the water. Then repeat, repeat, repeat, .............. until the water was clear.

I also bought black and Nancy is right about the black stain on your hands and nails. Gloves would have been a good idea. You probably wont experience the same with tan.

After putting sand in tank, I filled the tank and the water was still cloudy so I started a siphon with a garden hose and put another hose in to replenish the water level. Kept this going for a while until the water cleared.

Hopes this helps.