Loaches Online Forum

I'm sure there are plenty on this forum that have experience with sand bottom tanks.. I have read online that Aqua Clear filters are the ones to use with sand.. I only set my sand tank up *today* and killed a filter already (a Whisper) so.. should I have heeded the advice to use only an Aqua Clear?? I actually have one and it's hanging on the tank but I'm afraid to turn it on after killing the Whisper! LOL

I have NO fish in there right now, and two bottom filters going just to get the water clear and any residue I missed during rinsing. Yes I did rinse the sand really really well.. it took forever.. stirred and dumped the water over and over until it ran clear. I do have a heater in there too just to keep the temp regulated, it's only set on about 74. Oh, and I do have healthy bacteria from an established tank, in case that matters.

oh yea, I used pool filter sand.. my choices were that or play sand.. I opted for the pool sand because I saw it was a little larger in size than the play sand and I was afraid the play sand would get impacted. I am planning on plastic and live plants, and don't want the live plants roots to be crushed by sand that's too heavy.

Thanks!!!

the problem was the lack of waiting a day for the sand to settle.
basically every type of filter has been used with sand with great success except an undergravel filter LOL
keep the filter intake above the sand and you shouldn't have a problem

Here is a link to a thread about ways to keep the sand out of your filter.

Hope all goes well.

Sand and Filters

Since you have nitrifying bacteria but no fish, FEED the bacteria.
Ammonia (not perfumes, coloring, surfactants or other additives)
Fish food
Other source of nitrogen.

Most filter will work with sand, the Aquaclears seem to have shorter intake tubes, so they are higher in the tank.
A sponge over the intake is my answer to sand. I have some very low intake tubes, and the sponge filter is actually touching the sand, and this seems not to be a problem. (This one is a rather small, low flow filter- I would not try this with a more powerful filter)
Trim the tube to suit the tank size.
Put a big enough rock (mostly flat) closest to the intake to keep the sand away.