Gravel Or Sand? Opinions Please

[Spiceweasel69]

Gravel is much easier as far as maintenance. All the pics you see of sand tanks are after a bloody good clean. Theres no way they can always be like that. They look diirty cos the poop stays on top.

 

[big mick]

Gravel is much easier as far as maintenance. All the pics you see of sand tanks are after a bloody good clean. Theres no way they can always be like that. They look diirty cos the poop stays on top.

I wouldnt say sand was easier to clean but it certainly isnt hard, my sand bottom tanks look clean all the time as all the mess seems to group together in the same places rather than scattered all over the tank floor. I just use a length of airline to syphon it out when i do water changes.

 

[Teelie]

Spiceweasel69 must have either never had sand or never maintained it properly. My tanks ALL have sand, ranging from 10 to 55 and they're all clean. The only tank with a "problem" is one where some wood has thick algae growth that occasionally pulls loose from the current and lays on the surface. Usually in a corner that's a "dead spot" with slow circulation.

Waste is easily sucked up by a properly powered and placed filter instead of stuck down in the substrate like gravel. It's not hard to clean up any waste that does come up either.

Almost any kind of sand is fine to use though some sands are better with some fish than others. I use pool filter sand as it has yet to give me any problems. The grains are heavy but not too large, the fish dig in it without trouble and I can stick a low pressure siphon into it and not suck up a lot of grains into the bucket.

I also have Black Tahatian and White Moon sands, neither is currently in use but the black sand in the past proved to be quite nice when I set it up in an experimental 10 gallon.

 

[kimmers318]

Thanks for all of the opinions! I haven't yet seen sand in a fish store, and since it is almost time to open the pool I will probably just pick that up! If I don't like it I can always remove it.

Does anyone see any problems with the adf's who are constantly jumping around making the sand cloud up? While watching these guys today I realized they jump off from the bottom quite a bit, which may actually help keep those gas bubbles from building up, but then again, may cause it to stir into the water. HMMM

 

[Teelie]

They shouldn't cause or have any problems with sand so don't worry.