Black Gravel..

[Sahira]

Hi all,

Hope everyone's tanks are all good..

Well I was wondering if i should add black gravel to my tank?... I currently have the standard dorset pea gravel.. but I am thinking shall I add back gravel on top of the gravel that I currently have to make the tank inhabitants/plants/fish 'stand out' more?.. If I do, I will probably do it next weekend when I do my weekly water change, clean the gravel then place/scatter the black gravel on top...

Any ideas?..

Here is a pic of my tank... currently.. I think if I add black gravel on top it would look nicer... or shall I leave it as it is?... (I am not gonna take out the gravel in there at the moment, just going to put new gravel on top if i do decide to do it)..

http/www.flickr.com/photos/58372321@N06/6532212689/in/photostream

 

[snazy]

Your tank is very nice looking as it is
I am not a fan of black substrate/gravel but it probably does look nice in certain setups. If you put it on top it will eventually mix with the current gravel

 

[D1s]

I have had gravel in my old tank. Ive changed to tenna sand in my new one as i found the black gravel made the tank look very dark. My old tank was small so just looked very drab. Only what i found though. It may work in other tanks.

 

[Akasha72]

I have black gravel and I quite like it but I would agree with snazy that it will mix in eventually. I had some black/grey/white multi stuff before but it was too rough for my cory's. I put the black in to soften things up but I'm still picking out bits of the old stuff and probably will be for a while yet

 

[Ruskull]

I have black gravel in my tank too. I got it for a couple of reasons: Most fish feel safer with a dark substrate & gravel tends to hold down plants better, at least until their roots are established enough to hold themselves down.

Originally I put in black sand. It was a pain in the a$$ to clean though.............even after it was in it had some stuff floating to the top. I skimmed that off & it looked great but it wouldn't hold the plants down good enough. I ended up topping it off with black gravel, so now it's basically a mix of black gravel & black sand, with most of the top layer being gravel.

Eventually I plan to remove more of the gravel, especially toward the front of the tank, and I'll leave a bit of the gravel back by most of the plants.

Here's a few older, cell phone pics:

I have many more plants now..................

 

[Sahira]

Hmm... I think I am defo still going to have a think about it... has anyone got any pictures of tanks with black or a mix of black gravel?... just so i can get an idea of how it looks...

 

[Ruskull]

See the previous post................

 

[Sahira]

I have black gravel in my tank too. I got it for a couple of reasons: Most fish feel safer with a dark substrate & gravel tends to hold down plants better, at least until their roots are established enough to hold themselves down.

Originally I put in black sand. It was a pain in the a$$ to clean though.............even after it was in it had some stuff floating to the top. I skimmed that off & it looked great but it wouldn't hold the plants down good enough. I ended up topping it off with black gravel, so now it's basically a mix of black gravel & black sand, with most of the top layer being gravel.

Eventually I plan to remove more of the gravel, especially toward the front of the tank, and I'll leave a bit of the gravel back by most of the plants.

Here's a few older, cell phone pics:

I have many more plants now..................

See the previous post................

Your tank looks nice.. definitely makes the plants etc stand out more.. any latest pics?..

 

[Ruskull]

Yeah, I took some more low quality shots last night but I left the cable I download them with at work. I'll post some current ones Monday (tomorrow)

My wife's getting me a decnt camera for Christmas, mostly so I can take better pictures of this tank although she thinks it's for family pics

Mixing some black gravel with the kind you already have will help hide the poo, plant debris & uneaten food even better I would think.

 

[Sahira]

Yeah, I took some more low quality shots last night but I left the cable I download them with at work. I'll post some current ones Monday (tomorrow)

My wife's getting me a decnt camera for Christmas, mostly so I can take better pictures of this tank although she thinks it's for family pics

lol, cool!


Mixing some black gravel with the kind you already have will help hide the poo, plant debris & uneaten food even better I would think.

yhh i am going to order it.. not sure if i should get 2kg or 4kg?.. i am just going to scatter/place it on top of the gravel next weekend after gravel clean