Gravel Sand Gravel Sand Gravel Sand....

[tubthumped]

Starting to set up my larger home for my existing tank occupants...

I just wish I could decide what substrate to use!

I must have seen about 500 pictures now - and I still cannot make my mind up!

Once I've decided what to use - i then have to decide what colour!

It never ends.....

 

[Jallen]

Sand.
Looks nice and natural, is extremely easy to keep clean - doesn't collect the mank brown stuff that gravel does because the fish poop just sits on top and can be vacuumed off.

 

[Matthew Lee Newell]

SAND

its the best
looks the best,
simply the best, better than all the rest!
lol

 

[KingOfTheSea]

Sand. Have used both, sand is much nicer and easier.

 

[zuulan]

Sand. Have used both, sand is much nicer and easier.

I second that. So sand seems to be the consensus. As for the colour... the whiter the better for me.

 

[holidayinn]

Imo the best substrate is fine black gravel, but thats partly because of my stocking.

I find if you keep plecs, sand gets really messy and you end up having to clean it almost every day.

Black can hide waste, shows off fish colors imo.

I prefer a gravel vac then using a hosepipe hovering on the waste.

I have fish that dig so sand can get displaced and find itself in the filters or just up in the air (if you know what i mean)

 

[Jallen]

Imo the best substrate is fine black gravel, but thats partly because of my stocking.

I find if you keep plecs, sand gets really messy and you end up having to clean it almost every day.

Black can hide waste, shows off fish colors imo.

I prefer a gravel vac then using a hosepipe hovering on the waste.

I have fish that dig so sand can get displaced and find itself in the filters or just up in the air (if you know what i mean)

I get this a bit, never had trouble with filters.

I can honestly say I would prefer my digging fish had sand. It's MUCH more interesting to watch.

With my pretty heavily stocked tank I don't really see much poop on the sand. I vac every 2 weeks.

 

[flying_jack]

sand!

 

[Bigbadbaz]

I have both across my tanks, Black Roman for me in my main tank, aquarium sand in my brevis tank.
Gravel easier in larger tanks in my opinion..

 

[Jallen]

Play sand is best, it's cheap, you can just get it from argos or B&Q for about £3 for a 15kg bag.

 

[Littlemonkey]

I have gravel in my 120l, good for keeping plants in, even though I vac every week, once every two months I remove all and give a clean through. I do like the look of sand though, but it wouldnt suit my set up. Sorry not really helpfull I know.

 

[Geoff1991]

Play sand wins every time for me.

 

[holidayinn]

Imo the best substrate is fine black gravel, but thats partly because of my stocking.

I find if you keep plecs, sand gets really messy and you end up having to clean it almost every day.

Black can hide waste, shows off fish colors imo.

I prefer a gravel vac then using a hosepipe hovering on the waste.

I have fish that dig so sand can get displaced and find itself in the filters or just up in the air (if you know what i mean)

I get this a bit, never had trouble with filters.

I can honestly say I would prefer my digging fish had sand. It's MUCH more interesting to watch.

With my pretty heavily stocked tank I don't really see much poop on the sand. I vac every 2 weeks.

Well I guess circumstances dictate...I have plecs, clown loaches and within a day of hovering the sand, it's a mess again. I have a 150ish gallon tank and large aggressive cichlids, that sometimes you don't really want to put your hand into the tank (or they wont allow it). I currently have a very fine natural gravel mixed with sand, so have seen the mess my cichlids make when they dig and also when they just fancy flicking their tails.

I wouldnt say that digging sand is more interesting then a fine gravel, but guess thats opinion.

Thus for me, have bought but not swapped black gravel. Expecting black to make the tank look better (and its a change for me) and gravel im my circumstances 'should' be easier to control. I have both sand and gravel in my tanks, both have adv and dis...e.g. maybe able to hover the waste on sand but it also needs to be sifted occasionally, no problems using a algae magnet cleaner with gravel, whereas maybe probs with sand

 

[tubthumped]

Well I've gone for white silica sand.

Now to start playing!