beach sand

[Overawed]

I've seen a few tanks of my buddies here in FLA that use straight beach sand. Its awesome looking. I am preparing a tank to place some sand in. I figure why not, I live 5 blocks from the ocean.

I intend to wash it very very well and probably boil it. The tank is a 20 gallon, so it will not take that much.

The only problem is that the beach sand is very fine, so it will play havoc on my filtration. I need to devise some ideas to combat that. I am thinking of very sheer panty hose wrapped around the intake. I am concerned about limiting water flow and particles clogging the hose.

Anyone have any ideas?

[matt1066]

I have fine sand in one of my tanks, and as long as you dont keep the filter intake close to the bottom you should have no problems. I run a magnum amd a 600 g/h OPF on the 55 and sand has not given me any problems. When I do a water change I also run a Vortex and even when sand gets in there; it does no harm.

What filter are you concerned with?

Regards,

Matt

P.S. I don't think you even need to boil it, as the washing should be sufficient. Any critters in there will die if you use freshwater. I think boiling it would just be an unnessasary hassle.

[aharris]

I like that I'm not the only one who uses pantyhose for things in their tanks. I always recycle my old pairs for aquarium use for various reasons. I especially like using it as make-shift media bags to hold zeolite. You can just throw it out when the zeolite has served it's purpose.

I don't think you need it for this though. I use silica sand-blasting sand, very fine, and I don't have any problems except for when I vacuum the "gravel." Then I manage to suck quite a bit out, but since it's pretty cheap I always have a couple of bags on hand to cover the bald spots with.

[Overawed]

Originally posted by matt1066
When I do a water change I also run a Vortex and even when sand gets in there; it does no harm.

What filter are you concerned with?

Regards,

Matt



Hey Matt

Whats a vortex?

The filter in question is one of those built in Marineland Eclipse 3. A friend of mine gave me the tank a year ago and I am getting tired of the gravel.

[matt1066]

A Vortex is a high flow diatom filter. It filters the water through a layer of diamataceous earth, this enables it to filter out even the smallest particles, it even filters out ick. It is only used about 24hrs a week as its flow decreases rapidly. You either love them or hate them. I personally think they are great. Look it up on the net under diatom filters.

Not familiar with the eclipse system, I assume it is one of those over the tank mounted jobs. I would think that if the intake tube is set well above the sand, it wont be a problem. Maybe someone who knows the Eclipse system can chime in on that issue.

I use my Diatom filtr when doing water changes, it helps a great deal with getting rid of excess organic waste, and leaves my tank crystal clear in a few hours. The Vortex XL is @ $99 mail-order. Shop around if you are interested. If you decide to buy one let me know as there are secrets I can share with you that will make the job of operating it quite easy. Go it alone and I guarantee you will have a tank full of diatom powder, which won't hurt the fish, but will most likely upset you.

All the best,

Matt

[merlyn2221]

OA: I use the panty hose all the time, especially in the fry/grow out tank. If the filter intake hose is black, just go get a pair of sheer black knee hi pantyhose; you won't see it at all. If it's green, look for green pantyhose at Halloween or Christmas time. Otherwise if the tube is tan/brown, you've got it made!:D

I secure the pantyhose all the way up the intake, to just below the filter. Then I rubber band them. You have to change the rubber band every so often, but it's no big deal.

As far as the sand goes, in my experience, it will work if you just raise the intake tube, like Matt said.

[Mbuniac]

The only problem with the panty hose is that it would keep out larger debris like uneaten food and do-do. Fine sand is a relative term. I went to my local rock yard with a half dozen zip lock snack bags. They gave me samples of several different kinds of silica sand. I settled on #20 grit which is what is normally used for pool filters. Check Home Depot they have #20 grit quartz silica for $4+/100 lbs. There are always bags that are leaking. Grab a handful and compare it with the beach sand. One advantage that I can see to beach sand is that it probably wouldn't have as much dust in it to wash out. LOL
Sam

[Boilermaker]

I use the fluval1 or fluval2 filter cartridges made for fluvals internal filters, they slip right over the intake and you can staple the edges to make them tighter if needed, they come three to a pack and two to a pack I get about three months use out of one.
Theres other brands out there also.

[Tony]

Overawed : Just get a simple block of filter sponge.Take a pair of scissors and cut a line down the top of the sponge in the middle. Then put your intake pipe and slide it on . Make sure you do not cut too low into the sponge. This will prefilter your water and keep large particales from going up your intake.It will keep fry from being sucked up or large food pellets or sand from going in to your filter.If larger pieces of plants break off a plant it does not block the intake. Some of my cichlids pick flake pieces off it.You can take it off and rinse it and use it many times. Hope this helps..... Tony.

[merlyn2221]

Tony, that's a great idea!

[chc]

You can also get a HydroSponge prefilter. It works as is for Aquaclears and it can be modified for other intakes....