# Sand in 10G tank with HOB filter does not work



## dawntwister (Sep 29, 2007)

I put sand over dirt in my 10G tank. It became cloudy. I changed water 2x 50% and put HOB filter, with floss on. Water from filter is stirring sand. Someone at this site said sand wouldn't be stirred by a filter. The water looks thick enough to cut through.


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## orca77 (Sep 1, 2007)

It all depends on the sand grain size and GPH of your filter. Pool filter sand works better.


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## Homer_Simpson (Apr 2, 2007)

As orca77 mentioned Pool Filter Sand is supposed to be what most people use, especially those with cichlid only(planted and non-planted) tanks and have no problems. It is usually triple washed(so you should not have a major cloudiness issue) even if you don't rinse it although I would still recommend you rinse it. It is also super cheap. The only problem with pool filter sand is that it tends to be really light, which can cause a couple of problems. When/if you vacuum your substrate it easily gets pulled through and second and more important it can get sucked up into your filter impeller over a long period of time and shorten the life expectancy of your impeller. You can always place a sponge over the inlet or panty hose to prevent that, or you could always go with Tahitian Moon Sand. I have also read really good things about TMS. It has a nice black colour and it is heavier than pool filter sand so will not as easily get sucked into your vacuum hose or impeler as the pool filter sand.

You should also be aware that some people don't recommend that you use sand that is less than 1MM in grain size and say that anything smaller than that will compact over time causing your roots to rot and plants to die. Rex Grigg recommends this.









I don't know what the EI Naturalists believe as far as using sand over soil goes. I always assumed they strictly advocated the use of pea size or larger gravel on top of the soil 
http://thegab.org/Articles/WalstadTankDemo.html

Either way, here is a really good link on using sand as a substrate. You may find it useful.
http://www.fishinthe.net/html/section-viewarticle-50.html


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## Mud Pie Mama (Jul 30, 2006)

Ten gallons is a small size tank; so, a good question is what size filter are you using? With such a small tank it may be quite easy to have a strong filter stir up the substrate. 

I have two 10 gallon tanks run w/ HOB filters. I'm using Aqua Clears #30 - 150gph. If I let the water level fall too low (due to evaporation), the filter outflow will begin to push my gravel where the flow hits the front of the tank. (And my gravel is Eco Complete - larger grains and heavy.) So, I think another key here is you do need to keep the water level up high.


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## dt78 (Apr 23, 2007)

I don't know much about this different kinds of sand, but I have play sand from Lowe's in my 10 gallon tank and don't have any issues at all. I'm not sure the exact specs of the HOB filter (it is the one that came with my tank as part of a kit at Walmart), but I added a piece of a soda bottle to the outlet of the filter to restrict the water flow. I did this because this is a betta tank and bettas don't like very much water flow. I've also had the water lever in the tank lowered while I worked on the tank and the only sand that got mixed into the water was from me playing around in the tank.

Maybe you could try this to help your situation.

Here's a link to an article showing the setup: Filter Currents: A Betta's Worst Nightmare

I also wanted to mention that I have an option to decrease the flow on my HOB filter but with this setup I run it at full strength. Also, in step 2 of the article it talks about using tape to hold the piece of the bottle in place, but I didn't use any tape and have never had any problems. I just didn't know if the glue on the tape could somehow hurt the fish if it happened to come loose and find its way into the water.


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## dt78 (Apr 23, 2007)

Homer_Simpson said:


> Either way, here is a really good link on using sand as a substrate. You may find it useful.
> http://www.fishinthe.net/html/section-viewarticle-50.html


I wish I had read this article before I started my tank. I used play sand (because I read somewhere that it was a good choice), but this article clearly suggests not to use it. I've also been told since, that sand is not the correct choice for an el Natural tank, like _Homer_Simpson_ stated, because of compaction. Because of this I have added a large number of malaysian trumpet snails to mix the sand. So far everything seems to be working out, but I probably wouldn't have used the play sand if I had known more before I had already used it.


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## dawntwister (Sep 29, 2007)

dt78 said:


> I don't know much about this different kinds of sand, but I have play sand from Lowe's in my 10 gallon tank and don't have any issues at all. I'm not sure the exact specs of the HOB filter (it is the one that came with my tank as part of a kit at Walmart), but I added a piece of a soda bottle to the outlet of the filter to restrict the water flow. I did this because this is a betta tank and bettas don't like very much water flow. I've also had the water lever in the tank lowered while I worked on the tank and the only sand that got mixed into the water was from me playing around in the tank.
> 
> Maybe you could try this to help your situation.
> 
> ...


Well, I used plastic from a bottle to decrease flow of my HOB filter, as suggested at http://www.petfish.net, and now my tank is on the road of recovery.


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## dawntwister (Sep 29, 2007)

dawntwister said:


> Well, I used plastic from a bottle to decrease flow of my HOB filter, as suggested at http://www.petfish.net, and now my tank is on the road of recovery.


The plastic over outlet of HOB filter slowed down water, but eventually ended up with a depression in the sand under the flow. Thus I am 
swithching to a sponge filter.


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## Esteroali (Oct 1, 2007)

My Platy tank took over 3 weeks to fully clear, Petstore gravel over Lowe's soil.


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## mpagri (Dec 7, 2007)

Esteroali said:


> My Platy tank took over 3 weeks to fully clear, Petstore gravel over Lowe's soil.


did you rinse the soil and fill slowly with a bowl or plate or something on top of the substrate to fill into? That what I plan on doing, I'd be annoyed if I got 3 weeks cloudiness after that.

Back on topic, I've used play sand from home depot and pool filter sand from the pool store and the filter sand kicks the play sands butt. Not only is it bigger grains and heavier it looks MUCH better.


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## dawntwister (Sep 29, 2007)

Originally started with play sand. Rinsed it once. Had orange pea soup from it. Replaced it with play sand. I didn't rinse the pool sand. For read it doesn't have dust and we have water problems here in Ga. I poured the water in over a tupperware lid. After using the HOB filter with plastic over outlet for a few months I noticed a depression in the sand under it. Thus using sponge filter now. Have added spagnum moss in bag to side of it. For ph of water is high and my ram's color has diminished. 

I prefer sand to gravel. For even though it doesn't stay clean on top, I like what I see when I view it from a sitting positions. Also my albino corys' look nifty against white sand.


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