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  1. #71
    Founder Proteus's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Robdog
    Would a layer of peat under the sand serve a similar purpose?
    yup... it would certainly be better than the sand on its own

  2. #72
    SnakeSkin Discus
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    wouldnt you have problems with maintaining the ph with a layer of peat? also after a month or so wouldnt the peat start to break down and change the water params?

    sorry ive heard about this before but never been to sure
    Nathan

  3. #73
    San Merah Discus
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    May 2006
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    As I mentioned earlier I'm having a go with some River Sand from Bunnings. Seems really good so far but it is extremely silty. I thought I washed it pretty thoroughly but obviously not.
    Does anyone know whats good at removing silty murky water as I guess it's not that great for the fish.
    I've been doing heaps of water changes and filter rinsing but it's still crap.
    Thought about turning the filter off and letting it all settle and vacking the top layer off the sand

  4. #74
    Wrigglers
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    Jan 2006
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    Quote Originally Posted by Proteus
    Quote Originally Posted by Robdog
    Would a layer of peat under the sand serve a similar purpose?
    yup... it would certainly be better than the sand on its own
    I am thinking I'm going to make the move to sand today, going to goto the pool store after I've had a sleep.

    Aquabasis.. thats basically the same as flourite, no?

    Cause my layer of flourite ATM is only about an inch thick, so was thinking add about that again of sand, and then replant everything...

    I never really thought about how I was going to lay out my plants when I originally planted, and I never expected my Lotus to get as big as it is, it must be 10 individual plants now, and im not having any luck with hairgrass or glosso, it just doesn't stay planted for more than a few days....

    thoughts?

    Ideas?

  5. #75
    Larvae
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    Jul 2005
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    Ellwa,

    Make sure you clean the sand realy well. It is realy dirty and you will pay the price if you dont make it extra clean as your tank will be extra milky for a while.

    Have you looked at Clark Rubber for the sand?? I found them cheaper than most pool shops.

    HTH
    Peter

  6. #76
    Wrigglers
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    Quote Originally Posted by Liverpool_pete
    Ellwa,

    Make sure you clean the sand realy well. It is realy dirty and you will pay the price if you dont make it extra clean as your tank will be extra milky for a while.

    Have you looked at Clark Rubber for the sand?? I found them cheaper than most pool shops.

    HTH
    Peter
    Oh, cleaning isn't a problem,

    I was going to remove a large portion of water from my tank, via a gravel vac, then remove all the plants, give them a bit of a trim, get rid of all he crappy growth, and trim down the root balls, then do a solid gravel vac to get all the rubbish out, then remove the discus into a container with a large volume of water in it, reducing the water level right down, then add sand, about half an inch to inch thick, then re plant everything, i a way that doesn't reduce swimable water so much.

    And hopefully I'll get a better resuly out of the hair grass, and I'll be able to get a bit better use out of my because there will be limited reflection off the sand.

    Off to the Pool Shoppe now.

    ellwa

  7. #77
    Larvae
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    ellwa

    Sorry i meant before you add the sand to the tank. The sand in the bag is filthy. Dont worry you will see what i mean.

    Peter

  8. #78
    Larvae
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    Ellwa,

    How did the sand go? Did you get a chance to add it to the tank?? Any ipics?

    Peter

  9. #79
    Wrigglers
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    I did get a chance to add it yesterday.

    Used about a third of a bag.

    No photos yet, but will post some tonight when the camera gets home.

    It was a bit of an excersize, and wasn't helped by the fact that I'd hardly slept wince saturday night cause I worked all weekend, but I suceeded in the end.

    I did a gravel pump, onto the plants outside, about 1/3 water volume, then another 1/3rd into buckets.

    Then put the fish into one of the containers with an airstone in it.

    Then removed all the plants, and pumped another half of the water that was left into a contrainer, and onto the good plants with that.

    I then trimmed all the plants, got rid of any growth that was at all damaged, and trimmed the roots down for planting.

    After washing the sand, I cut the bottom off a water bottle, inverted it, and used it to get the sand into the water without any hassles. It ran out quite nicely, and all the sand was on the floor without clouding the water too much.

    I then re-planted, taking my time, and thinking about how I was going about it, and thinking about a layout that worked both for the plants, and for the fish to get the most out of the 40G.

    As the water was refilled from the buckets, and then with tap water, the fish returned to their home, and within a few minutes were checking out their new territory.

    The little corys love it, the whiptail is pissed his log has moved, the turqs think its great, the yellow mellon, well, i'm trying to figure out why he is missing little bits in his fins, like, between the boney bits, and the blue diamond is doing great, oh, except for the worms that I just ordered Big L for.

    The water was pretty cloudy from the JBL ferts under the Flourite, but thats clearing up.

    There is just a bit of a white glow to the water, i assume residule stuff from the stiring up that occured during pouring of the sand.

    Really happy with the result. Time to clean to filter.

    I'll post pics when the camera gets home.

    e./

    Thanx for you help pete.

  10. #80
    Wrigglers
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    With Sand, taken inadvertantly with flash.

    Just learning how to use the camera to get it opening fast.

    Thanx for the help, this thread was awsome.

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