The Puffer Forum

I am looking into getting a new puffer, i want to have sand in the tank, but i don't know much about it

when you clean the tank, will sand be sucked up

You will probably suck up a little during vacuuming.

If you stir the sand first and let all the debris and muck settle on the top and then syphon everything up you end up with the least sand in your bucket.

Shove the gravel vac into the sand and syphon and you will end up with a bucket full of sand.

Don't vacuum through the sand, just go lightly over the top to get the stuff off of the surface. You do need to stir the sand with every cleaning to prevent anaerobic pockets from forming. This is a good practice at all times, but only really necessary if you have a burrowing fish. It is just as easy as vacuuming gravel. The easiest way to do this is to attach a chop stick to the end of your vac and stir as you suck the water out.

I just hand stir before vacuming & skim over the settled depris on top. I would only use sand for a small burrowing species, like my miurus. It can really become a PITA in a larger, heavily decorated tank, getting under all the decor & plants.

I have sand in my heavily decorated GSP tank, but IMO the look of the sand out-weights the work needed. I just take everything out, a PITA I know, but I also use this as an excuse to change stuff around to keep the fish entertained, they can explore new structures, and to help with my always wanting a new tank, i just alter the look of the one I have. It all works out for me,

Sand will eat your filters up and gets in the control knob of the Python as well. It is hard to clean, but looks beautiful. Weigh your options. I prefer finely crushed Aragonite Coral, but this is for PH buffering in Brackish and Marine tanks. I like Eco-Complete in Freshwater tanks as it is fine, black, and great for plants.

I hate sand as a conventional substrate due to the massive upkeep requirement if the depth is greater than a dusting. If the upkeep is not done it is a time bomb. NIMFT. I do not need to create work and risk for myself or my setups.

My sand bed is about two inches deep. IME it is not too bad of a substates, but ,as RTR said, you MUST keep up on cleaning it. I only use sand, IMO it is more natural looking, but I am rather anal about cleaning my tanks. If you tend to let cleaning slip a lot reconsider sand. I usually stir mine just before a 50% wc, doing this gets half the dust out, I then run my HOB overnight. Then, depending on the filter pads' age and shape, I change them out or just rinse them off. I have no real problem with my water getting dusty or my filters getting torn up.