Post by Sach-Crabministrator on Dec 12, 2010 15:58:47 GMT -5
Phase2-Substrate and More Substrate
So my tank was placed and ready to go. The next step was doing the substrate. I knew I'd be including the old stuff from the 20 gal, but couldn't put that in until the last minute so the crabs wouldn't be out for too long.
I didn't have everything in the proportions I wanted (I wanted 1 more bag of sand, at least one more brick of EE and some moss), but I knew I needed to get started; the old tank wasn't warm or roomy enough. The old sub had actually more than the 1 part EE and so I hoped that would help make up the difference.
First, I made the brick of EE. (1 gallon of water per brick or 4 quarts or about 3 3/4 liters) I used a little more water than it said to, because mine was old and dry and opened. This seemed to work fine, you can eyeball it once you have at least a gallon and see what happens. You don't want too much, or you get soup when you're done. Well soaked EE should look about like crumbled chocolate cake.
Next comes the sand.
I had almost 1 50# bag in the old tank and I bought 2 more. So I had approximately 150 pounds of sand.
I put the EE in first and hefted the bag of sand in and began to pour it in. This created dust, so I added some water as I went along.
One bag of sand added & mixed.
I learned my lesson on the first bag and added the second bag a big cup at a time; my son helped a lot with the mixing. I mixed by hand, wearing kitchen gloves. I scooped and crumbled and mixed.
2nd bag added & mixed.
So then I moved my crabs to a box while I took their substrate.
(I'll put more pics of them in a separate thread )
The finished substrate with the old added to the top.
All in all, I used about 5 gallons of water mixed with the sand and EE.
So, phase 2 was complete, all that was left was decorating.
So my tank was placed and ready to go. The next step was doing the substrate. I knew I'd be including the old stuff from the 20 gal, but couldn't put that in until the last minute so the crabs wouldn't be out for too long.
I didn't have everything in the proportions I wanted (I wanted 1 more bag of sand, at least one more brick of EE and some moss), but I knew I needed to get started; the old tank wasn't warm or roomy enough. The old sub had actually more than the 1 part EE and so I hoped that would help make up the difference.
First, I made the brick of EE. (1 gallon of water per brick or 4 quarts or about 3 3/4 liters) I used a little more water than it said to, because mine was old and dry and opened. This seemed to work fine, you can eyeball it once you have at least a gallon and see what happens. You don't want too much, or you get soup when you're done. Well soaked EE should look about like crumbled chocolate cake.
Next comes the sand.
I had almost 1 50# bag in the old tank and I bought 2 more. So I had approximately 150 pounds of sand.
I put the EE in first and hefted the bag of sand in and began to pour it in. This created dust, so I added some water as I went along.
One bag of sand added & mixed.
I learned my lesson on the first bag and added the second bag a big cup at a time; my son helped a lot with the mixing. I mixed by hand, wearing kitchen gloves. I scooped and crumbled and mixed.
2nd bag added & mixed.
So then I moved my crabs to a box while I took their substrate.
(I'll put more pics of them in a separate thread )
The finished substrate with the old added to the top.
All in all, I used about 5 gallons of water mixed with the sand and EE.
So, phase 2 was complete, all that was left was decorating.