Aquascaping - Gravel And Sand

[Spiceweasel69]

what i want to do is have gravel for 70% of tank, but have sand in there too as i have plec and other sand lovers. Heres my idea......

left portion of tank - gravel - fine roman gravel - black

towards right there is a large piece of bogwood that separates the right portion from the left, which is sand. I want the level of sand to be above the gravel to get a tier effect.

i cant draw what i want as it comes in too big for piccy, but i hope you know what i mean.

Any comments

so

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Gravel Bogwood Sand

 

[Mbuna Dave]

I like the idea of adding seperate sections for sand and gravel.
Have you any pics to show us the finished look?

 

[FishOwner]

Sounds nice but I would do it the other way around, have the gravel higher than the sand. I think it would look more natural that way, plus...if any of the gravel gets into the sand area it will be alot easier to pick it out than the sand getting in the gravel area!! You might want to use some sort of barrier between the two substrates like a piece of acrylic or a stiff piece of plastic buried down in there. Sounds like a good idea...can't wait to see pics!

 

[phlawed]

Sounds nice but I would do it the other way around, have the gravel higher than the sand. I think it would look more natural that way, plus...if any of the gravel gets into the sand area it will be alot easier to pick it out than the sand getting in the gravel area!! You might want to use some sort of barrier between the two substrates like a piece of acrylic or a stiff piece of plastic buried down in there. Sounds like a good idea...can't wait to see pics!

I agree here, I had the same idea just didnt feel like going though with it. A piece of wood will probably not keep them separate. Go to you local hardware store and ask about a piece of plastic that is very thin (I would say 1 to 2"x1/8" thick. This should be very easy to work with). I would think this would be a two person job. One holding the plastic and bending it to give it a natural curvy look to it while the other pours the sand and gravel to keep it in place as your moving it. Thats how I was going to do it anyways. Any thin peice of plastic (clear would be best) over 2" should work just make sure you can bend it very easy. If it is stiff it will make for a much harder project. If you can only find pieces of plastic taller than 2" then just get a box cutter and trim off what you dont need. ****Put the cut end towards the bottom to prevent any fish brushing up agianst a piece that might be sharp. Sometimes cutting things like plastic it cuts at an angle making it virtually a very sharp plastic knife that would cut right through your finger and for sure a fish.

Hope maybe some of this helps you out a little.

P.S. something you might could use is that black plastic for gardening that they put around plants to keep grass or other plants seperate. it is very flexible and cheap. Just trim it down to what you need. Just an idea.

 

[ksam]

I've tried this a couple of times, I had fine gravel either side & sand in the middle. On one tank I had the sides raised up,( so there was gravel each side with sand in the middl)e so the sand wouldn't get mixed up too much, this worked the best (but not 100%), in another tank I didn't have any divider..........this became very messy, and rather annoying, but did look the nice when it had just been done .

 

[Spiceweasel69]

ta for response. Ill try to get a pic when i can ill try next weekend. Any more suggections welcome. Ill take them into account.