# My solo Red with 3 "flying foxes"



## SpecialEffect (Aug 7, 2009)

Finally got around with taking the pictures.... Feel like showing why sand is nice







And randomly will be able to see the 3 flying foxes that are my pirhana's ONLY friends lol.


*I think im badass because i show my teeth but i hide in a corner*








*Body Shot - RAWR*
































*No more pictures - LEAVE ME ALONE*





​


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## His Majesty (Apr 5, 2005)

nice looking setup. your redbelly has a nice neon red to him


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## Armand_caribe (Sep 9, 2009)

Nice setup buddy, I'd get some two or three RBP's more tho.

Cheers.


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

nice clean setup, i really like that driftwood


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## philbert (Mar 8, 2007)

that stump is really gnarly! the only thing i woud do is get a background or paint it black.


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## SpecialEffect (Aug 7, 2009)

Armand_caribe said:


> Nice setup buddy, I'd get some two or three RBP's more tho.
> 
> Cheers.


That's what i always really wanted to do, but dont yah think Mr.Big will eat the newcommers?


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## Armand_caribe (Sep 9, 2009)

SpecialEffect said:


> Nice setup buddy, I'd get some two or three RBP's more tho.
> 
> Cheers.


That's what i always really wanted to do, but dont yah think Mr.Big will eat the newcommers?
[/quote]

As long as yo toss, lest say three RBP about the same size and previously move the tank deco a bit to brake territory they should be fine.....


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## HGI (Oct 27, 2009)

What kind of sand you using in your tank and how is working out? Cleaning, Filters, your piranha liking it?

I'm thinking of using Silica Sand for my 170g but if it's going to be a hassle to clean and if it get sucked up into the filter cause the rbs go crazy with it then I'm going to just stick with gravel.


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## SpecialEffect (Aug 7, 2009)

Black Silica Sand, I forgot the number (its a bit more smaller then pool filter sand i believe)

And cleaning, not to sure yet, havent opened up my canister yet lol.

I dont think it's bad at all, when i did the transformation, the sand sank pretty quickly, and some just floated to the top and i took it out... when my piranha goes nuts, it shoots up, but sinks quite quickly


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## HGI (Oct 27, 2009)

Hmm interesting, keep me update on this if you could cause it wont be till around late January that I'll be setting up my tank.

You using a gravel vack on it?
and let me know what it looks like when you open your canister.


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## SpecialEffect (Aug 7, 2009)

Honestly, i havent even graveled vac in awhile because honestly it just looks so clean the sand... except the area my pirhana chills the most because he tend's to just poop at that area....and then it just "disintegrates" over time :| I seem to only vacuume un-eaten food or large piles of fish poop lol, but a pure vacume havent really done..

And when i did my vaccume, it was 10X easier done then when i had gravel... (however i did use my smaller sized siphon)

I might open up my canister thursday and do a nice water change then... since i got no school.. so ill post the update thursday!


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## SpecialEffect (Aug 7, 2009)

UPDATE​
Alright, well i just did my maintance... here's some info!

Siphoning the sand is EASY as hell, i find it 10X more easier and better then if it were gravel. The sand would get sucked in, do a little twirly twirl and then sing right back to the bottom... and repeat... Honestly, it look clean before i even siphoned it... The place's that were the most dirtiest was where my pirhana like's to chill and likes to sh*t at... that took a bit of siphoning but then it just all sank...
Honestly, it couldnt have been easier! 10/10.

Now, when i opened up my filter it looked just so beautiful. No visuals of black sand, or black sand debris or ANYTHING for that matter! all i did was take the sponge part and gave it a quick "up & down" movement in the water bucket that i siphoned out. I also took out some snail's i found down there... bastards.
Also with my filter maintance i took out ALL the carbon that was in there... Total of 3 pouches, took them out. I added 1 more sac of purigene and the rest was biomax.

*Fluval 405

-purigine / purigene
-biomax
-biomax
-biomax
*

HOWEVER, what i dont understand is that the biomax i baught (fluval) are quite big and the one's that i have inside my filter already are quite smaller. Is it because they disenegrate over time, or could it possibly be that my old media witch i thought was biomax may actually be, fluval prefilter media?

In conclusion i must say, i am ALL for sand!









Thanks for reading


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## z0ne (Oct 20, 2009)

You make me very optimistic about my new beach-y venture. Good stuff, man! I love how clean your tank is.


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## HGI (Oct 27, 2009)

So it's nearly been two weeks since I last heard from you.... How's the tank going, more so the sand? Notice any pros/cons to sand vrs gravel yet?


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## Us And Them (Dec 4, 2008)

HGI said:


> So it's nearly been two weeks since I last heard from you.... How's the tank going, more so the sand? Notice any pros/cons to sand vrs gravel yet?


Pro's - Easier to Clean , Traps 100x LESS Food and Debris , Plants remain Anchored , Sand Allows you to Angle Objects , Params are better within days of switch over , Easier for P's to Nest that breed ,

Cons ' If Sucked into Filter , Powerhead etc , Death of Product is iminent.

I cant think of anything against it lol


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## SpecialEffect (Aug 7, 2009)

Haha! Im sorry, i never checked back on this thread lmao... never knew there was a reply to it!

Well, no problems with my sand.. i love it... way to much infact that i just turned my 10gallon aquarium into a 10gallon white silica sand instead of its fruity color gravel it had 4 hours ago!

Ill post pictures tommorow







Im loving it, and ill also be adding real plant's to it since it's just so damn good looking now!

edit: Oh, and also added a wierd looking fish that eats snails... Loach something? He's brown beigeish.... with black stripes heh... its to take care of my snail issue, whitch seems to work since there many dead ones laying around


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## HGI (Oct 27, 2009)

wicked, I took a stop by Lordco today to check on prices for silica sand and they quoted me about $15 for a 50lb bag. The price is for sure a deal, now just wondering if a 50lb bag is gonna be enough to fill the 170g (6'x2.5'), we'll find out in a month or so.

Thanks for the updates


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## SpecialEffect (Aug 7, 2009)

HGI, it wont be enough at all... You see the picture's of my black silica sand? Thats a 50 lb bag for a 48 gallon aquarium... and it evenly has 1 - 1.5" width lol.... For a 170, id say at least 3 bags.... 4 bags if you want to have "hills" and whatnot yeah know


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## baliztik terror (Nov 24, 2008)

Love your tank's set-up man. Nice looking RB also.


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## HGI (Oct 27, 2009)

SpecialEffect said:


> HGI, it wont be enough at all... You see the picture's of my black silica sand? Thats a 50 lb bag for a 48 gallon aquarium... and it evenly has 1 - 1.5" width lol.... For a 170, id say at least 3 bags.... 4 bags if you want to have "hills" and whatnot yeah know


Dam 4 bags ROFL loller, well I way underbid on that one.


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## CAPONE (May 18, 2006)

Good god that's a purrty setup


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## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

Great coloration!


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## FEEFA (Nov 19, 2007)

Great looking set up you got, and your fish is nice too


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## fishloaf666 (Feb 26, 2008)

nice piranha dude



SpecialEffect said:


> Haha! Im sorry, i never checked back on this thread lmao... never knew there was a reply to it!
> 
> Well, no problems with my sand.. i love it... way to much infact that i just turned my 10gallon aquarium into a 10gallon white silica sand instead of its fruity color gravel it had 4 hours ago!
> 
> ...


 prolly a kuhli loach, i have a couple dojos myself


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## Ibanez247 (Nov 9, 2006)

Nice setup and red. Piranhas have no friends. Anything in there they just havnt caught, yet. I thought substrate containing silica was bad? Cant remember where I read that but thought it was a post on here way back. I would put a black background up then the colors will really pop.


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## SpecialEffect (Aug 7, 2009)

Yeah i put a black background on my aquarium (and breeder) last week... haven't taken a picture yet... but i will tommorow to show you guys...

Anyhow, the aquarium looks the same, except you will notice the plants gone xD They died / were dieing 2 months after i got them







So sad, might buy new ones one day to replace, but for now my it looks nice... ill post pictures tommorow!

Edit: No idea why they were dieing, probably because i dont use 8000k lighting.. i use power glows, witch are 12k i believe?


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