Habitat - Indoor :: Sand FAQ

[steve]

The turtle film is on the water surface?

[ignites]

i bought the quikrite play sand today too. How many times did people wash through them?

[Rafa2k]

I depends on how long it takes to get the water clear. Bucket washing is the easiest way I think. I got a 5 gallon bucket, put the hose in the bucket, added the sand until the bucket was 3/4 full. Turn the hose on, slowly so you don't get the snake effect, and continuously stir the sand until the water running over is clear.

[MEandYouPhoto]

Got a quick question, Has anyone ever tried to use any form of a bubbler with sand. Flexible bubble wands, or disks or just bubble wands of any type?

[ignites]

I depends on how long it takes to get the water clear. Bucket washing is the easiest way I think. I got a 5 gallon bucket, put the hose in the bucket, added the sand until the bucket was 3/4 full. Turn the hose on, slowly so you don't get the snake effect, and continuously stir the sand until the water running over is clear.

I read this after i did it. Basically what i ended up doing was fill bucket 1/4 full and rinse it repeatedly and pull out whatever was floating in the buckets. I am not sure if i should do it again. I think its pretty clean. I spent 2 hours cleaning 1 bag of sand. We'll see tomorrow i guess.

[PridgNYC]

Got a quick question, Has anyone ever tried to use any form of a bubbler with sand. Flexible bubble wands, or disks or just bubble wands of any type?

I have 2 air stones with sand, no problem.

[MEandYouPhoto]

Got a quick question, Has anyone ever tried to use any form of a bubbler with sand. Flexible bubble wands, or disks or just bubble wands of any type?

I have 2 air stones with sand, no problem.

Do you bury them under the sand or let them sit on top? Any chance you can include a picture of your setup?

[PridgNYC]

I attached them to the wall just above the sand, they now sort of float around at the end of their airline since the suction cups have detached from the wall. Lots of pics in my picture thread viewtopic.php?f=14&t=30693 There is also a build thread with lots of pics.. viewtopic.php?f=6&t=30478

[penelope]

@Steve - Yes. It is on the water surface. It is that waxy looking, albeit nearly see-through, layer that morphs along the top of the water. I have seen it 'forever.' The way I explain it - from a day to day perspective - sounds bad, but isn't. It was that Bright Green that tripped me out.
I added more sand last weekend and my helper did a real crappy job, so I wound up doing a complete tank change (uhhhhghgh).
Since then I have not seen the iridescent green.
With that said, I don't know what really caused the green color since I never saw it before, and have not seen it since (a week now).

@ignites - although already answered - my input for future readers.
The first batch I rinsed until I thought it was clean and put it in the tank. When I put it in the tank it took a couple of hours to settle.
The second round I used this rule of thumb: Rinsed it with a hose (close enough to stir up the sand) and poured off the surface water, rinsed & poured off the surface water - like a zillion times.
When it started to run clear, I counted to 10 - if there was the slightest bit of silt floating in the water, I poured it off and rinsed it again.
It took forever, but...
When I hosed it down, counted to 10, and saw crystal clear water on top it did not create an iota of clouding when I put it in. Cool!
My opinion - the silt (however minimal) causes the clouding, so make sure it is all gone! It pays off.

[yellow belly 9]

Hello guys i recently bought a 40 gallon tank for my turtle i am putting the pieces together i came across a youtube vid where the owner of the turtle had sand and i liked that idea i have had my turtle for about 9yrs and had it with rocks on the bottom since its a new tank i wanna try something new but i don't know how she will react too the sand should i just use the rocks? if so what kind of sand should i buy two sources i have here are home depot and walmart but not sure on the brand and also i am gonna buy a 40 gallon whisper filter from walmart if that filter good enough for the sand? .. thanks

[steve]

The preferred type is called "pool filter sand". For a 40 gallon tank, you need to be looking at filters rated for a 120 gallon tank.

[yellow belly 9]

i ended up buy play sand from home depot 50 pounds for like 5 bucks... damn i already bought the filter it's a whisper 40i filter three in one do you still recommend the sand with that filter?

[steve]

It might just need to be arranged in a higher location.

[penelope]

yeah...and check out filter after a few days, and then after a week. common sense will dictate if it's an issue. happy sand- land!

[yellow belly 9]

i had the sand there for about 2days then i took it out i didnt really like it too be honest so i have it plain no gravel