Tahitian moon sand

For my 20 gallon, I decided to tear it down and start it anew. For the substrate, I bought Tahitian moon sand and have some questions to ask. First of all, does anybody have a method when it comes to cleaning sand of free floating particles when you first rinse it out? Also, is it Corydoras friendly? Any help would be appreciated.

this Tahitian moon sand is the best for your aquarium,ande cory must be frindly in this environment but i don't know about its cleaning process..

Also, what kind of fish do best in a black, sandy substrate? maybe Neons?

best will be the contrast colour,yes must be neon and cardinals,danio clown loach, angels ...

I bought white sand last night for my 32g and it shows a lot of dirt so i was also wondering how you would clean it. So far I've been using a net and cleaning it the best i could.

I did a little research and most people just rinse the crap out of it. Or you could try to overflow a bucket full of sand until only clean water comes out. Ill try that method. Ill tell you my results.

The usual way is to put the sand or gravel in a bucket, hold a clean garden hose in the bottom of the bucket, and let the water overflow while you keep the bucket stirred up. When the water flows clear, the sand or gravel is clean. Most of the newer substrate materials come prewashed, so they usually need only a quick rinse. If the garden hose is old or if it has been in the hot sun, it may contain trace amounts of volatile chemicals. The best treatment for that is to run some water on the lawn for a while.

Most commercially sold aquarium substrates contain fine or lite materials that tend to float then settle out. In my experience, it's rare to have really clear water in a new aquarium. By the time a new aquarium goes through the nitrogen cycle, the water should be crystal clear. Water clarity, however, is not as important as the absence of ammonia and nitrite.

I tried the hose in bucket method and it didn't work out so well. My backyard is flooded, and I am losing a lot of sand.

Woohoo! John your back online!

I was off schedule for a while. It seems like the exotic and expensive Tahitian moon sand would need very little cleaning. The aquarium water should clear in a few days, then you could post a picture so we can all see what it looks like.

I got off of my lazy butt to find our camera and take a picture. Here is what it looks like. I would think I rinsed the sand pretty well because there is not much particles floating around.

That's quite a beautiful substrate and a very nice aquarium. When I posted the thing about rinsing the sand, I neglected to say the bucket should be about 2/3 full of substrate and the water flow from the hose can be fairly gentle. That way you don't lose very much material. Once I tried rinsing some Fluorite, which is very good for live plants. After about half of the stuff was rinsed into the yard, I gave up and put the rest in the aquarium. In a few days the dust settled.

For the rinsing I decided to use those 3 liter tanks used for bettas and fill up the sand to 1/3 of the total capacity. I rinsed it out in the sink about 15 times. It is painstakingly slow this way but it is worth it. What would be good decorations for the tank? River rocks? Bog wood?

My favorite is Malaysian driftwood. I like the way it looks, and if it accidentally falls against the aquarium glass, it doesn't do any damage. A big rock falling against the glass is not a very good experience, especially if it is followed by the sound of water running onto the floor.

I would like some bog wood. I like the "black water" effect provided by it and the natural tannin release to help lower ph for the more acidic fish.

Malaysian driftwood does the same thing and even helps soften the water. It's just a matter of personal preference. Unfortunately, every time I try to do any aquascaping the aquarium winds up looking like an old man just dumped in some driftwood and plants; it's called the chaos technique.

I was going to do the fishless cycle for this tank but I can't find any non bubbly or non scented ammonia. Does anybody know what kind of name it is bottled under?

If you have plants in the aquarium and if you add some fish food every day, the tank will cycle itself. You're correct to check the contents of anything you put into the aquarium. Lots of household goods have additives.

I will just add fish food although it is unsightly on the sand. Oh well. I really can't add plants because I won't buy an expensive lighting system and I want simplicity for this tank.

Some aquarium plants don't require much light. Java fern is one. A couple more are Anubias Nana and Cryptocoryne Balansae. Sorry for all the Latin words; the plants are not too common, probably because they are slow growing.

I am familiar with these plants because of research and i am good with big words. I am just sort of in doubt of how low "low light" is.
Would normal compact fluorescents work for the lighting?

ya the furoscent light woks,for any normal aquarium you may provide 1.5 watt light per gallon of water..calculate ur gallon of your tank,then lighting as per this..

The single tube lights work fine for me, but only with low light plants. Most of my aquariums also have floating hornwort because it helps eliminate ammonia and gives fry good hiding places.

I have bought a large piece of Malaysian driftwood for the aquarium because I like the interesting shapes on it. I am also going to buy another single tube fluorescent light and going to grow Java Moss and Hornwort.

I hope you can send a picture.

as mr john said i also want to see that picture..

After a billion years I finally got off my lazy bum to take a picture that you guys wanted to see. Questions? Comments? Feel free to criticize.

*Grumble grumble* Let me try again.

Darn it. Can't seem to upload it. It says maximum pixels exceeded. I tried cropping the pictures but that didn't work.

Well I decided to upload it to the photo album so if you want to check it out you can. Or you can drop by my profile.

Those are some great pictures.