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Re: Sand Substrates - an alternate view

>I have been experimenting with sand, sand-peat, and various sand-peat-gravel 
>mixes for about a year, in tanks ranging from 10G to 55G. 

I have been using sand as long as I have been growing aquarium plants.
 Working
on six years now.

>In the Western US, it has become nearly impossible to get decent aquarium 
>gravel. Most of what is available is "Lapis Lustre" by RMC Lonestar. It is 
>very pretty, but so loaded with sea shells that it will destroy any 
>soft-water tank in no time. The pH heads up toward 8 rapidly. I have been 
>trying to use silica sand-blasting sand, which normally is widely available 
>in only 30 mesh (quite fine).

When you use sand, espically fine sand you do not have to have as deep
a substrate.  I use between one and two inches.

>My tentative conclusion is that it compacts too much to be a useful 
>substrate, and my various attempts to adapt commercial UGF plates and 
>custom-designed UGFs have to all be rated as failures. They kind-of worked, 
>but not well enough to recommend them to a friend.

An UGF and sand is NOT a good idea.  First it is difficult to keep the
sand out of
the filter and the usual depth of substrate needed for a UGF is much
to much for
sand.

>Vacuuming works OK if you use a larger-mouth vacuum tube and smaller hose to 
>avoid sucking the sand out. A layer of coarser gravel over the sand works, 
>too, but you need to resist the urge to plunge the vacuum too deep.

Most of the crud stays on top of sand so you do not have to vacume to
deep.

>I am facing the most unpleasant task of tearing down a heavily-planted 55G 
>this weekend, to replace the mixed substrate that has been in there for 
>almost a year. It is hard as a rock in places, and highly anaerobic looking. 
>Yuk!

The only times I have had this type of problem is when I used peat
plates
in the substrate.  Usually there are no anaerobic sections or they are
very
small.

>This unpleasant task is what prompts me to take your question as an 
>opportunity to advise people that sand can be a real problem. My apology to 
>the folks on the plant mailing list for reporting it here first. I had been 
>planning to post this there, but it is hard to admit a solid string of 
>failures, so I never seem to get a "round tuit."

Any substrate can cause problems.  One point.  Did you have an
Maylasian
snails in the tank?  They constantly dig in the substrate performing
the same
functions as earthworms.  I would not think of a tank without these
little
guys.

>Bottom line: Don't use fine sand unless you have a profound reason to do it.

Beg to differ here.  I would not use anything else though I have been 
experimenting with adding some earthworm castings to the bottom inch
of sand when I use a 'deep' substrate of two inches.

Ed Tomlinson (tomlins at cam_org)
Montreal, Canada

Home of pppdial: http://www.cam.org/~tomlins/pppdial.html