Results 1 to 6 of 6

Thread: Switching to sand a pain?

  1. #1
    reptileszz
    Guest

    Default Switching to sand a pain?

    Hi all, I currently have gravel in my ACF tank and I know that is bad. I want to switch to either nothing or sand. I am reading about sand and it looks like a huge PITA to get it in there and no matter how much I clean it it will cloud the water for a period of time. I want to leave the frogs in there when I change it over. Is that an option? Or would this clouding be unhealthy for them? The whole switching over sounds like a huge pain in general but I dont want the frogs ingesting the gravel (atm I think the frogs are too small to ingest it but not sure).

    Any tips on getting the sand in there?

    Thanks,
    Carole

    PD have heard that the frogs can kick up the sand and it can get in the filter, thus ruining it? True?

  2. # ADS
    Circuit advertisement
     

  3. #2
    TheHornedToad
    Guest

    Default Re: Switching to sand a pain?

    I have gravel in my ACF's tank. I think it would be a pain to change it as well so Im just gonna leave it in there. The gravel in my tank is really small grain so hopefully if they eat any they can pass it.

  4. #3
    JayFrog
    Guest

    Default Re: Switching to sand a pain?

    It really depends on the size of your tank. The bigger the tank, the more annoying. In any case, it's not has hard as it seems, just requires a little more work.

    1) Clouding Issue:
    Yes you will get clouding the first time you leave it in, what I did was I kept the sand in a bucket and washed the sand a couple of times to get those little particles (the cloud) out as much as I can. Of course you won't get ALL of it out because they are tiny. There is a method to prevent clouding when you put in water after the washing process. Take a plate that you won't use again, preferably flat, and you want to put it in an angle, around 45 degrees and make sure it's facing the glass. This is the annoying part because of the size of your tank. You need a slow stream water running into this plate, that way nothing splashes over. The way you do this? Be creative! Since my tank is small, I'm stuck with using a cup and slowly pouring it.
    Why does the cloud happen?
    If you've ever been to the beach, you'll notice sand gets carried away with the ocean water. Same concept here, if you pour the water vigorously as you would in gravel, your result would be sand going everywhere. Slow stream water and the angle of the plate is important!

    2) As for the filter, I can't really say much because my filter has a setting to lower the speed making it sand friendly. And yes, they do kick the sand, mostly when they're startled, but with my filter it hasn't caused any problems at all!

  5. This member thanks JayFrog for this post:


  6. #4
    reptileszz
    Guest

    Default Re: Switching to sand a pain?

    Quote Originally Posted by TheHornedToad View Post
    I have gravel in my ACF's tank. I think it would be a pain to change it as well so Im just gonna leave it in there. The gravel in my tank is really small grain so hopefully if they eat any they can pass it.
    This gravel is about pea sized. I imagine when they get really big they could pass it. I am worried about while they are growing... I just feel like I am flirting with disaster leaving it in there...

    Thanks,
    Carole

  7. #5
    100+ Post Member mpmistr's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Nationality
    [United States]
    Location
    Effingham, Illinois, United States
    Age
    45
    Posts
    1,045

    Default Re: Switching to sand a pain?

    I used to have river pebbles and then I switched to sand, back when I housed them in a 20 gallon.. here's how I did it.

    I rinsed the sand in a bucket, I removed the frogs and put them in a temporary tank. I emptied the tank and added the sand then filled it back up again but the water was still very cloudy, I let the filters run over night and added back my driftwood, plants ect and then added back in the frogs the next day and they back to their froggy business.

    ACF are rather hardy animals and tolerate human use pretty well, swapping out substrate shouldn't be a huge issue. I just moved to a new town with my frogs and while they certainly didn't go willingly into the critter keeper they were troopers and are doing well in their new home.

    If you are going to feed them sinking pellets then I would highly recommend sand or a bare bottom tank though I am the paranoid type myself..

  8. This member thanks mpmistr for this post:


  9. #6
    TheHornedToad
    Guest

    Default Re: Switching to sand a pain?

    Quote Originally Posted by reptileszz View Post
    This gravel is about pea sized. I imagine when they get really big they could pass it. I am worried about while they are growing... I just feel like I am flirting with disaster leaving it in there...

    Thanks,
    Carole
    The gravel in mine is much smaller then pea size it's maybe like 1/5 of a pea, maybe you can change your substrate to smaller gravel it poses less risk then pea sized.

  10. This member thanks TheHornedToad for this post:


Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. Switching Tanks
    By Merlin66 in forum Tree Frogs
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: June 14th, 2012, 04:04 PM
  2. Switching to water!
    By Jcal in forum African Bullfrogs
    Replies: 84
    Last Post: November 11th, 2011, 12:22 PM
  3. Switching light cycles?
    By IrishRonin in forum Tree Frogs
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: September 27th, 2011, 04:09 PM
  4. Thinking of switching to live plants
    By 5280 in forum Vivarium, Terrarium & Enclosure Discussion
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: April 9th, 2011, 02:08 PM
  5. Switching water
    By TypingMonkey in forum Pacman Frogs
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: December 31st, 2010, 08:16 PM

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •