Discus Aquarium Sand Update 16 7

Discus 15 years ago 19,599 views

READ DISCRIPTION!!!!!!! here is a video of the new sand in my discus aquarium. It took 1 day to change all the sand and i only lost one fish during the process, Due to it jumping out its bucket. I have used silver sand and spent around 40 mins cleaning the sand so that when water was added crystal clear water was left on top. the whole process took around 7 hours also i got rid of all the snails left in the tank as i gave it a complete clean so it is free of algae. I kept around 60% of the water that was in the tank and did a 40% water change. To keep the sand i clean today i purchased some leopard corys and they are doing very well in the tank i also moved my continuously growing red tail shark in with them. After a few hours of swimming round like there is no tomorow she has calmed down and has found the spot she likes. I couldnt get very good shot of the corys as the discus scared them off and also my phone is no and i couldnt work out how to change the zoom whilst doing a video but they are very nice and helpful fish i'm going to make sure i keep moving the sand so bubles dont build up underneath and the fish are doing a good job of keeping it clean. I will be adding plants and stones so the fish can hide but unfortunatly yet again i have run out of money for them. The angels are for sale on ebay just type in breeding pair of angelfish and you will see a picture of the male gold marbles UK collection only thanks for watching

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Kieran Barnett - 11 years ago

sorry for long time to reply not been on here in a while. it was just builders sand which I cleaned up cant remember the brand unfortunately sorry

Junaid Latifi_Xi - 11 years ago

Is that unipac silver sand?

iAzmax - 13 years ago

@KBarnett2009 ok thanks ^^

Kieran Barnett - 13 years ago

@Bazil1869 i have two more weeks of sixth form and i will do a video. its quite easy and as long as you keep the tank clean it is cleaner than gravel. if you leave all the crap to settle on it it will go minging. thanks for watching the video. :)

iAzmax - 13 years ago

hi there could you please tell me how you clean your sand maybe put a video up and is it cleaner then gravel and how often you need to clean it thanks.I may be getting Silica sand.

Kieran Barnett - 13 years ago

@DilluCichlid hi there they do spawn however as it is a community tank they all get eaten and i no longer have another tank to put them in and also not the time or space unfortunately, as i would love to breed them. thank you for your comment :)

Kieran Barnett - 13 years ago

@gtr3cords Hi there i got the sand from a builders section at my local garden centre. It is basicly sand pit sand and as long as you clean it thoroughly before adding it to the tank it will be fine for any fish. for salt water tanks though i would recomend getting live sand. thanks for the comment

gtr3cords - 13 years ago

where di you get the sand, and is it safe for any fish?

martin trevizo - 14 years ago

thanks for the info kbarnett! Now that i've had it awhile, i love sand. As long as it's cleaned regularly it looks good and it's got a natural look to it.

10. comment for Discus Aquarium Sand Update

Kieran Barnett - 14 years ago

@xDAVMANx hi its hey there Delilah by plain white teas (possibly spelt wrong lol) thanks for comment

Kieran Barnett - 14 years ago

@TheProphet6661 i agree about the cleanness, it sounds as though you must of used actual aquarium sand which is extremely expensive i just used silver sand where £10 for 2 massive bags (like compost bags) of the sand. will never go back to gravel as you can see from my other videos its a massive improvement from the black gravel i had originally. sorry for long reply but was focusing on gcse's and thanks for the comment

Kieran Barnett - 14 years ago

@zineesh its easy to clean as long as you do it regularly, if left too long too much accumulates to a point where its worth just putting new sand in. i find it is much cleaner than gravel although it may have been down to bead technique, but everyone has their own preferences, thanks for taking the time to watch the video.

N uddin - 14 years ago

i found sand in aquarium to be very difficult to clean

fionalovestodance - 14 years ago

thanks KBarnett2009, we eventually found out that it was nothing to do with our set up!!! It was the water? apparently our water can't hold the ph up at 7 it is only up at 7 when it comes out the tap then the ph drops on it's own? bit confusing but with a little bit of coral sand in our filter the problem is fixed and all our fish are happy again! x

InvisieMoto - 14 years ago

@KBarnett2009 yeah cory cats love the sand i put in they always dig and its fun to watch them dig them selfs in the sand only bad if they do it next to plants

TheProphet6661 - 14 years ago

its expensive to have sand (cost me $25 to barely cover a 20 long, but its so worth it!! When the water runs clear the aquarium just look so beautiful and clean, unlike the gunk that gets stuck on the gravel >:( Yuck, never going back to that again!

fionalovestodance - 14 years ago

hi, thanks for your reply, we ended up getting coral sand to help keep the ph up. we are constantly checking the PH until it settles. Thankfully we didn't loose all our fish, we did loose our shrimp though :( F x

Kieran Barnett - 14 years ago

@fionalovestodance try and turn the temperature down a bit to see if that makes if difference. the sand could bring it down when its first added but would stabilise, same with the rocks. sorry for long reply but have been to busy for youtube :( but tell me if this helps. its most likely sorted now oterwise your fish would be dead by now but anyways there you go.

fionalovestodance - 14 years ago

hey, can sand bring the ph level down? we are putting ph water of 7 in our tank but when we do water tests it is at 4.5!!!! can't work out what else could be pulling it down, we also have live plants, rocks, bubbles, filter and a plec! can you advise?

20. comment for Discus Aquarium Sand Update

martin trevizo - 14 years ago

good job on the video. I was wondering, if i use play sand in my 55 gal tank will it be cloudy in there? And also will it stay the same tan color or will it darken with the water? I like the light tannish color.

Kieran Barnett - 14 years ago

@redandbluebeater hi thanks for the comment sorry for the long reply but i had to pack down my pc for decorating. yh cleaning is so much easier nice and quicker. its much better than this now and hopefully im etting a fluval osaka for them :)

redandbluebeater - 14 years ago

I thought i was the only one on youtube to have sand in a freshwater aquarium. This setup should be more popular, it's really good. Cleaning is a lot easier with it this way.

Kieran Barnett - 14 years ago

i dont no if i replied if i did im doing it again lol. simply siphon it out every few days and also i have some little cory catfish which eat anything when they are hungry so they will eat the debris thinking its food. hope this helps

nosyiam - 14 years ago

@KBarnett2009 K thanks again

Kieran Barnett - 14 years ago

i got it from a Garden Centre in the builders section so any where like that. Im not sure they sell it in the states but its silver sand but as i said play sand is fine hope this helps.

nosyiam - 14 years ago

@KBarnett2009 Ok thanks Where did you get your sand? Thanks again

Kieran Barnett - 14 years ago

if you buy a sand which is suitable for aquariums but not labelled as aquarium sand it is much cheaper than gravel, i would recommend silver sand and children's play pit sand. sand is much easier to clean and no debris gets trapped underneath you just hover with a siphon and twirl it round above the sand it it lifts the debris without removing any sand or displacing it. i also think it looks more natural, hope this helps and no problem :) happy fish keeping

nosyiam - 14 years ago

@KBarnett2009 Thanks for the help!!!! One last question would I be better to get sand or gravel and which is cheaper? Thanks again

Kieran Barnett - 14 years ago

29 gallons btw

30. comment for Discus Aquarium Sand Update

Kieran Barnett - 14 years ago

i would say a minumum of about 29 cause if in smaller then that the gouramis get very aggressive towards the other fish in the tank and i would say a fluval 105 or 205 filter would be good not too expensive but not crap either mine 205 is excelleny hope this helps

nosyiam - 14 years ago

What is the minumim tank size for 2 kissing gouramis 4 platies 2 albino corys and 2 black skirt tetras? What is a good filter? I know the gouramis can eat the others.......beleave me I learned;-(

Kieran Barnett - 14 years ago

hey thanks just give it a few days to settle then do a water change and it should be fine it will proberly take about 3 days o be back to normal. hope this helps

Kieran Barnett - 14 years ago

i dont know exactly i believe its a 35 gallon which is about 130 litres

Robin C - 14 years ago

What's your water parameter? Thnk you

Kieran Barnett - 14 years ago

only if it was close enough to the sand, my filter in pipe is about 4 inches from the sand and doesn't take up any unless the fish kick it up. only if it takes in lots of sand its a problem. hope this helps :)

Kieran Barnett - 15 years ago

ive never kept oscars but maintenance wise it is easier than gravel all debris settles on top of the sand which you just siphon out every few days and also keep mixing it up so gasses dont become trapped underneath. I also think sand gives a more natural look. I have cory cats which also clean up the sand. but yh hope this answers your question.

1verstreate1 - 15 years ago

Question. I have a new 55 gal setup, which I'll soon be moving my three oscars and pleco into. But I'm wondering if sand is better than gravel. How is it maintanence wise? Easier than gravel or harder? And is it ideal for an oscar tank?

Kieran Barnett - 15 years ago

no problem. :)

Jason Barrows - 15 years ago

haha sorry i meant the sand. thanks!

Kieran Barnett - 15 years ago

if you mean the shark i bought it form my local fish shop and if you mean the sand i got it from notcuts (garden centre) but this is in the UK but if you want to know the type of sand its silversand.

Jason Barrows - 15 years ago

hey also where did u get it? thanks

Kieran Barnett - 15 years ago

i like the sand so much i am going to be changing the gravel in my 60 litre aquarium to sand as well subscribe for updates will be doing this on tuesday.

Kieran Barnett - 15 years ago

Yh it definatly looks a lot better from what it was if you have seen the old video makes he tank look much brighter and also the fish seem to enjoy it more. Thanks for your comment

Kieran Barnett - 15 years ago

I took them out because i wanted to give the tank a good clean down and also get rid of any snail living in there i also thought this would be less stressful for the discus as i was scraping all the gravel out with a dust pan so it was faster. It also meant that any dirt under the gravel wouldnt be left in the water so the water was clearer when i added the sand yh the water was only cloudy for a few hours from what the water picked up when re adding it to the tank.

netweit3 - 15 years ago

Nice sand. How come you took the fish out when adding the sand? I left mine in and they did fine. I super cleaned the sand though so I wouldn't have a cloudy tank when adding it.

Kieran Barnett - 15 years ago

yh it is very easy to keep clean i also bought some cory catfish to eat any left overs so apart from waste which i siphon out every few days its almost clear sand and yh the red tail is my favourite when i bought him i didnt realise they got so big i thought it was going to be like 3 or 4 inches max should of researched lucky i bought this tank really. thanks for your comment

Jason Barrows - 15 years ago

maybe one day i will switch to sand in one of my tanks. i hear its easy to keep clean. and again i love your red tailed shark. quite a good job.

sloppi1234 - 15 years ago

whackh my vid DISCUS AQUARIUM

Kieran Barnett - 15 years ago

yh its this one cheers man cant wait till i get my rocks and plants for it now lol

50. comment for Discus Aquarium Sand Update

TheBettaMaster - 15 years ago

Nice fish, I think your tank would really take off once you start decorating it. I currently feed my discus twice daily. I feed them Sera brand Discus Granules in the morning and Tetra brand TetraMin Tropical granules in the evening. I also give them some blood worms from time to time as snacks. As far as plants, I've had the most luck keeping Aqua Ferns, Anubias & Japanese Grass.