Playsand as substrate cap?

Hi all.

I did my first planted tank this weekend. Used peatmoss & Nutrifeed as sustrate (2cm), capped with playsand (5cm).

Made many mistakes.
1 - didn't wash the playsand
2 - didn't glue down the rocks or driftwood.

Soooo, advice please. The tank was very murky (that's the crap from the playsand). It's mostly settled down now, and I put extra filter wool in my filter, so that helped a lot. Question is, was the playsand a suitable choice? Should I just count it as a loss and restart the whole thing with pool filter sand instead of playsand? On the Tropical Aquarium Facebook page where I posted this as well, someone said that playsand compacts and can rot... Any thoughts?

I am REALLY not looking forward to re-doing the whole thing...

How does one even get that stuff out???

I am adding 2 pics of the tank. The first one is from Saturday afternoon, the other this morning, so 2 days later.

T.i.a

 

I did exactly the same as you did, didn't wash my sand, gets too heavy to carry up the ladder and put into the tank
knowing that I am going to fish less cycle and you will still get it even if you washed it 100x , I can change the water rapidly.
Get yourself Seachem Clarity + filter floss, 2-3 big water changes (full)
I did one change already and I used 1 and half time the recommended dosage 5ml - 12 caps ( 1 cap treats 20 gallons)
day 2 and the tank cleared about 50%
I will most see see the fines but as you go along, with the water changes, it will clear up eventually, just takes time.
I am just as impatient but from previous experience - change the water or replace the fish

 

Thanks Bbq.

I did 2 x 50% WCs. And put polyfiber filter wool in my filter. That's done a great job already.

I was a bit concerned after researching PS on this forum (too little, too late...) Aparently the sand is too fine to let water through, and lead to toxic gas pockets forming. Also it seems fish poop can't get through the sand to break down by the bacteria.

I really, really don't want to do this over...

 

Hang back with adding the fish, check if your play sand had any salt added, some do to be more human safe. If it did then that is going to be a bigger issue - nothing living in your aquarium loves NaCl.

If not two choices - leave it and keep running a water polisher ( i.e. something with loads of batting in it) or (and this would be my way of doing it) - remove the hardscape and the plants that you planted so that you only have the play sand and the peatmoss layers. The hard thing with the peat - once it starts getting into the water column - ja tickets. but then you slowly "vacuum" the top layer of plays sand off - not all of it just most, now cap it with normal PFS i.e. filter sand and replant. Alternative drop the water level below the play sand level - manually remove by hand as much as possible then cap with PFS.

A peat tank hates it when you move root feeders around but that can give you a good 2 plus years of growth.

Later Ferdie

 

Damn... seems this my lot Will remove the PS as suggested.

Thanks for the advice.

 

As mentioned above, yes gases to get trapped and like said, just stir or when your plants roots get big enough it will take it out but still recommend to stir gently. Take chops sticks and zig zag over the sand. Be careful for the sand not getting into your impellers, I have an 600mm overflow pipe and a sump, so I’m not too concerned, the sand settles in my overflow and enough poly fibers to prevent this happening.
Lastly, make sure there’s no sand on your sponges when cleaning your glass. You don’t want to scratch your tank.

 

Why on earth did you use only peat moss - that stuff is very acid, a potting soil would have been better and far better root production in it. I reckon scrap this whole lot and start over properly - down the line you will not regret it..... that play sand is always going to be an issue - ask me how I know this !!And......... to complicate matter even more, if one little grain of play sand gets on to you cleaning sponge it scratches the glass badly nd it happens easy as you move the sponge along the bottom as you clean.

 

I went with the peat moss after reading Zoom's article 1,2 and 3 here on this forum.
Ja, I reckon you are right. I will be re-doing everything then... sigh...

 

Sorry @Ness to cause you more work........but ..... before you do anything - check out the Diana Walstad method of doing things - it really works very well doing it her way........and it's easy and does not cost a kings ransom !!

 

To be honest, Sand isn't a problem and many people uses it, yes dusty at first but it will subside.
Most Stingray keepers uses it and these little buggers really know how to kick it up.
We just don't get them that often, I have only seen it once in a pet store.
Peat moss will drop PH /Hardness but only for so long and it becomes redundant
Just like activated carbon, only works for a period of time.
As long as you are not keeping Tanganyikan cichlids then all others will be fine,
or think of it this way, Discus will enjoy that water.
I am just using 2 completely opposite species to compare which gets "rather" skittish
Again, we will need to see tests results.
I had one Tank with ADA products kitted (including co2) out and another just a moss and sand
shrimps thrived in both tanks and breed like rabbits

 

So, I spent 8 hours first removing everything, and then redid everything but this time used PFS (which I rinsed 3 time).

Right. Tank 2.0 is ready to start cycling!

One question though, how does a tank cycle if there is nothing to break down? Shouldn't one have fish for that?

 

Looks good!

I've always added stability for the bacteria, and then in a few days add a small amount of fish food

 

Ok.....

@BBQ , @Ness

I agree with what has been said above and i would start wih the project from scratch
I think @f-fish has given the best solution at getting rid of the play sand if you dont want to take everything ou
I am not a planted tank expert but do know my way around garden and yes, peat alone is very acid. not sure if this could affect some of the fis you add in future

As for Stingray keepers using play sand... NO.. NO.. NO...
Its PFS that is used not playsand!!

I have seen 2 rays die from adding playsand and i added some pfs that i didnt know had some play sand mixed and i nearly lost 2, 6 week old pups
Plysand clogs their spiracles very easy and you can pick up problems, it gets stuck to their slime coat and your tank will be a constant mess
Your pumps and wave makers will not last very long either
Please... do not use play sand on Stingrays!!

 

Thanks A New Day.

I am planning a community tank with livebearers - guppies, plattys etc. I am picturing schools of small fish. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

It's a 4 ft, 250L tank.

I ended up removing about half of the peat with the Play Sand. Replaced it with organic compost I made for my veg garden (my other love). I also mixed in a good handful of soil from the dam on our farm. This is in the interest of seeding a good microbiome. When I sourced the dam-soil, I also managed to find 3 shrimps. So those have been added to the completed tank for good measure.

No fish yet.

I have been following Father Fish. He supports the dirted tank movement. He seems to encourage adding fish straight away.

Opinions?

Thanks for all the advice everyone

 

and one of the reasons why CT planted tanks are 13% ( ok just made that stats up) easier to get going initially.

Hmm if you on a farm - are you using rain water? Or ground water that has been RO'ed.

as for fish- I like well stocked planted tanks from the word go ... then adding a few guppies has worked for me in the past. Stability = aquarium product i.e. well tested and trusted with instructions. Not sure what your fish shop situation is - but alternative also exist for the DIYer in you. Bacteria products that are used for dams, koi tanks etc are all possible candidates, even stuff used to support septic tanks - my current go-to is http://www.biodyne.co.za/products/smellaway.php but I have used other products also https://efficientmicrobes.co.za/product/super-em/ as an example ... starting point is finding purple non-sulfur bacteria and then as few ingredients as possible and all organic hmm natural.

No matter what you do - slow down, you are going to have the tank for years - so small changes and then observations.

Later Ferdie

 

I would use Stability for 7 days as they recommend on the bottle, and add some fish immediately. It works perfectly to establish bacteria in your filters. As Ferdie asked - are you what water are you using if you live on a farm. If borehole water - have you had it tested.
DO NOT EVER USE DAM WATER. there are gogas in your dam and even more so if there are any fish or other life in that water. I am sorry you have already put soil from the dam in the tank. Fish or shrimp from the dam will carry masses of un-wanted gogas on them and it WILL infect your fish in the tank. Take out those shrimps you got from the dam immediately - hope they have not brought some or other bad bacteria with them already !!