Ok so today went out and priced some sand and pets mart $25 for a 20 pound bag of sand, i said F that.
Went to home depot and picked up some play sand for $3 for a 50 pound bag
got three bags.
Is this enough sand, 150 pounds, to fill up the bottom of a 6ft tank by 18 deep?
Second question
How far up should the FX5 intake be from the sand?
Any pointers on what i can do to prevent sand from going into the intake?
thanks guys

??????

I would hazard a guess and say between 1" and 2"'s Pauly.

But I have never had sand. Some people swear by it. Some dont....

Better not say the word swear.....Sorry private joke... lol

I can't tell you if 150 pounds will be enough or not but I would recommend that before you take the sand out of the bag just lay the three bags in the bottom the tank(if the tank is empty) from this you should be able to eyeball it. If you think that the bags will spread out to 1 and 1/2 to 2 inches on the bottom of the tank then you're good. As for the filter intake, you're going to want it high enough so the fish can't easily stir the sand high enough to where the filter will suck it up. I hope that helps a little. I personally love the sand in my tank. It take awhile to clean it, especially 150 pounds, but in the end it will look great.

question about cleaning it...
how do i no when its clean?
for example the last bucket i was cleaning the sand was very murkie
and i was rinsing it for about 20mins
i was about to give up
but then i thought to my self that if i keep agitating the sand of course its gunna be murkie so i gently added water to the bucket of sand and it was crystal clear... does this mean its clean?

You are not supposed to agitate aquarium sand too much! I spent like $40 on black sand...I didnt like the look of play sand from home depo. The intake can be anywhere from 1" to 6" from botom.... Doesnt matter cause it will occaisionally lock the propeller up no matter what! I am sure the sand is somewhat clean....Have fun

pauly187 wrote:


I usually add the sand after I've already put treated water into the bucket, then I have a big flat paddle with holes in it (usually used for baaad girls who need discipline), every couple of hours putting it in to the bottom and rotating it gently....like a food mixer. I do this for about a day, emptying the water and refilling it maybe once or twice and then let it soak overnight (You probably don't need to soak it that long but I had a bad experience earlier so I want to be absolutely sure). Next day I put it in evenly dispersed and gently scoop by scoop, with the filters and air pumps off. I use a regular sized plastic cup for smaller portions at a time, if you put large amounts in each time you can get clumping. I then usually wait at least 15-20 minutes before turning filters/air pumps back on.

I think the main issue is not only making sure it's clean as it is making sure it is completely saturated so it sinks and has no air pockets. It's gonna get cloudy for awhile regardless but as long as it doesn't clump together into little balls and float around (meaning its not saturated) you needn't worry about the filter or the fish, and it will clear up just fine soon enough.

The first time I tried adding it to my tank I did not saturate it enough and had alot of sand shutting down my filters and ruining my cartridges. I think this was because I didn't stir it enough and the sand at the bottom of the bucket was still dry to a certain extent. I learned the hard way that you can put sand into a bucket and fill it with water and the sand at the bottom will still be bone dry if you don't agitate it or leave it in long enough.

I have both filters intake baskets only about 2 inches above the sand and no issues at all. I like them low enough to catch the waste that will sit on top of the sand as opposed to sinking in to gravel. That's one of the additional benefits of sand, as well as looking much nicer (IMO).

johnnyphoenix i thank u for giving me that in debt story seriously cause every piece of advice helps! im going to add it right now in the next thirty mins..... take and drain 75% of the water thenslowly scoop it in turn off all filter for about 30mins let everything settle fill it back up ans see how things turn out

srt4lifehps wrote:


I wouldn't necessarily say it will no matter what...IMO if the sand is added diligently and correctly (and the impeller is cleaned as needed regardless of substrate), it shouldn't mess with the impeller. Usually every 8 weeks or so I stir the sand up a bit to release any gasses and trapped debris, but I make sure my filters stay off until its for the most part settled, and I don't really agitate it enough to cause the amount of clouding that initial instillation does.