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Fish Tank and Sand Advice2007-11-24 23:09:37

I have a fish tank with sand, instead of rocks. I think the silt is killing my filter motor. Has anyone had experience with this? Any advice?

Answers:

I have had some issues with this as well. I solved my issues by removing everything from the tank except the sand and the water. From here you can do 2 things depending on weather it's cycled or not.

1. uncycled - Remove the sand and put some of it into a bucket. Remove the water from the tank and refill. Fill the bucket about 1/2 way with water and stir the heck out of it. Wait 10 - 30 seconds and dump the water. Repeat untill it runs crystal clear. Then do it for all the sand. Return it to the tank. Let it settle. Try the filter and do water changes on any remaining particles. Then cycle the tank and add you stuff

2. Cycled - This is risky but it could save your filter. Remove everything and turn off the filter. Stir the heck out of you tank. Let it settle for about 30 seconds to 1 min then do a 50% water change. After a few days repeat untill you water is cleared up shortly after stirring (1-3 min). This will save some bacteria and hopefully not ruin your chemistry to bad. Definatly test your tank and let it cycle (since your filter will still have bacteria and some will be left from the sand it won't take to long. Mine was done in about 2 weeks or less.

If your sand is very fine then wait longer befor dumping the bucket/changing water since it will take longer to settle.