Gravel Vs Sand

[debbie888]

Hi there

Ok having posted in another section about gravel....white gravel...aaarrgggggghhhhhh....do not get white gravel...its a

Anyway have spent most of today cleaning my gravel, had to take a load of it out...in my biggest tank too, and clean it all, has come up great, but do not fancy having to do that too often.

I have now decided...not straight away but soon, to replace it for a number of reasons, I have numerous tanks, and my biggest never looks as clear, as all my others, and none of the others have white gravel in, I think this is that light reflects off the white gravel.

Anyway someone in another thread suggested sand, and thinking about it I kinda like the idea, have seen a few tanks with sand in, and they do look good....I am just wondering if its easy to keep clean, do you just use a vac as you do with gravel? Does it matter what fish you have in the tank? Do some prefer sand to gravel?

Whats in your tank?

Any information or advice would be appreciated...I am not looking forward to replacing the gravel, but either way the white gravel is going....!

Debbie

 

[veil92]

I use sand in all my tanks and I used to keep gravel.
Sand is a lot easier to keep clean seeing how all waste sits right on top of the sand. You don't use the vac the same way you would with gravel unless you want to suck up the sand. You hold the vac about an inch above the sand and it'll suck p debris. Yes more fish prefer sand over gravel. Such as cories who sift through the sand, certain types of eels, chiclids, loaches, etc.

 

[three-fingers]

IMO most fish prefer sand to a varying degree, obviously things like corydoras and loaches appear to love sifting though it, but even bigger fish like angels take mouthfuls of it in search of food when they are bored - something they cant do with gravel.

It's pretty easy to keep clean, but you cant gravel vac it the same way as the tube would suck it up. You have to swirl the syphon just above the sand to pick up loose debris, this is actually very easy to do once you get the hang of it.

Though I'd recommend just going with a combination of malaysian trumpet snails and plants, this way you should never need to vac it once you have enough snails. The snails turn over the sand and any excess food/leaves/fish waste gets dragged under out of view over night when the snails are active, it then breaks down and the plant roots use the components as food .

I'd personally recommend getting a darker coloured sand like the play sand from B&Q if you don't go with this method or have tonnes of fish, as fish poop shows up brilliantly on bright sand .

 

[debbie888]

IMO most fish prefer sand to a varying degree, obviously things like corydoras and loaches appear to love sifting though it, but even bigger fish like angels take mouthfuls of it in search of food when they are bored - something they cant do with gravel.

It's pretty easy to keep clean, but you cant gravel vac it the same way as the tube would suck it up. You have to swirl the syphon just above the sand to pick up loose debris, this is actually very easy to do once you get the hang of it.

Though I'd recommend just going with a combination of malaysian trumpet snails and plants, this way you should never need to vac it once you have enough snails. The snails turn over the sand and any excess food/leaves/fish waste gets dragged under out of view over night when the snails are active, it then breaks down and the plant roots use the components as food .

I'd personally recommend getting a darker coloured sand like the play sand from B&Q if you don't go with this method or have tonnes of fish, as fish poop shows up brilliantly on bright sand .

Hmmm right, thanks for the information...was going to ask what kind of sand I needed, as didn't know whether it was just normal sand....I shall be taking a look at B&Q...do I just put the sand in? Know that sounds like a stupid question...but I ask a lot of them...lol

 

[doresy]

Sand sand sand Everytime.

I started with coloured gravel, then white then (the worst) black quartz!

Now its Argos Playsand. (it's clean but do wash the dust out thoroughly before use)

I find it the easiest stuff in the world to keep clean. Ok, so you get to see a bit of poo build up during the week but it's so easy to suck up during water change. At least with sand you can see what you've got whereas with gravel it all falls between and builds up like silt

I think it looks so natural and there's no sight like seeing your cory 'bulldozing' through it with sand pouring from their gills......lovely!

 

[jourdy288]

I think if you rinse the sand first...

Sand sand sand Everytime.

I started with coloured gravel, then white then (the worst) black quartz!

Now its Argos Playsand. (it's clean but do wash the dust out thoroughly before use)

I find it the easiest stuff in the world to keep clean. Ok, so you get to see a bit of poo build up during the week but it's so easy to suck up during water change. At least with sand you can see what you've got whereas with gravel it all falls between and builds up like silt

I think it looks so natural and there's no sight like seeing your cory 'bulldozing' through it with sand pouring from their gills......lovely!

What about black quartz? Could I use it?

 

[three-fingers]

Hmmm right, thanks for the information...was going to ask what kind of sand I needed, as didn't know whether it was just normal sand....I shall be taking a look at B&Q...do I just put the sand in? Know that sounds like a stupid question...but I ask a lot of them...lol

Most sand comes with tonnes of silt in it, harmless to the fish but takes ages to get rid of and makes the water oh-so-cloudy.
I rinsed mine out thoroughly using several buckets and a hose before I put it in the tank.
Though I know some people who just put it straight in and added accu-clear or something similar to the water, which clumps all the silt together so it actually gets caught by the filter. Apparently this works very well, I just chose to go through the effort of cleaning it out because I don't really like adding chemicals to the water when I don't have to .

 

[debbie888]

OK well think with what I have read that sand is going in my tank....!

one other question.....and probably another stupid one

I think I shall be doing it next weekend....what about the fish, do I leave them in, or take them out....bearing in mind its a big tank with quite a few fish in....I have taken a lot of the gravel out today to wash it, and I took most of the ornaments and plants out, to give it an extra good clean, always feel a bit guilty as the fish do not like me intefering with their home, wish they knew I was doing it for their benefit..lol.

So would they be ok to be left in, whilst I take the gravel out and replace with sand?

Thanks again for all your help, god I love people on this forum, so helpful and infomative!

 

[doresy]

I think if you rinse the sand first...

Sand sand sand Everytime.

I started with coloured gravel, then white then (the worst) black quartz!

Now its Argos Playsand. (it's clean but do wash the dust out thoroughly before use)

I find it the easiest stuff in the world to keep clean. Ok, so you get to see a bit of poo build up during the week but it's so easy to suck up during water change. At least with sand you can see what you've got whereas with gravel it all falls between and builds up like silt

I think it looks so natural and there's no sight like seeing your cory 'bulldozing' through it with sand pouring from their gills......lovely!

What about black quartz? Could I use it?

As I mentioned, black quartz was my worst choice. It's a definate no no if you have or intend to keep Cory. That stuff used to gave me horrendous splinters (I'm a 'hands in the tank' with a scrubber) so god knows what it was like for my Cory. Well, they are happy now!

 

[doresy]

OK well think with what I have read that sand is going in my tank....!

one other question.....and probably another stupid one

I think I shall be doing it next weekend....what about the fish, do I leave them in, or take them out....bearing in mind its a big tank with quite a few fish in....I have taken a lot of the gravel out today to wash it, and I took most of the ornaments and plants out, to give it an extra good clean, always feel a bit guilty as the fish do not like me intefering with their home, wish they knew I was doing it for their benefit..lol.

So would they be ok to be left in, whilst I take the gravel out and replace with sand?

Thanks again for all your help, god I love people on this forum, so helpful and infomative!

I would (and did) remove the fish to do a change from gravel to sand. Apart from the stress caused by the upheaval there is a build up of toxins in the gravel unless you have been a regular deep cleaner during water changes so when you take out the gravel these toxins are released. You then have to do a complete water change which is impossible with fish in and then there is the temperature change too!

 

[debbie888]

OK well think with what I have read that sand is going in my tank....!

one other question.....and probably another stupid one

I think I shall be doing it next weekend....what about the fish, do I leave them in, or take them out....bearing in mind its a big tank with quite a few fish in....I have taken a lot of the gravel out today to wash it, and I took most of the ornaments and plants out, to give it an extra good clean, always feel a bit guilty as the fish do not like me intefering with their home, wish they knew I was doing it for their benefit..lol.

So would they be ok to be left in, whilst I take the gravel out and replace with sand?

Thanks again for all your help, god I love people on this forum, so helpful and infomative!

I would (and did) remove the fish to do a change from gravel to sand. Apart from the stress caused by the upheaval there is a build up of toxins in the gravel unless you have been a regular deep cleaner during water changes so when you take out the gravel these toxins are released. You then have to do a complete water change which is impossible with fish in and then there is the temperature change too!

Ok thanks for the reply, hell it is going to be a big job then....am now hunting the net for some black sand or something in a dark colour, as I heard aquarium sand is quite expensive and this fish hobby costing me enough as it is...lol

If anyone knows where I can get some cheap sand, then please pm me details...thank you!

 

[doresy]

The best and cheapest sand is Argos Playsand at £2.99 per 15kg. Only trouble is it aint black!

Get black sand from the LFS but do please avoid that black (or any colour) quartz if you intend to keep cory, plecs etc.

 

[wendywc]

After having sand, I'm actually a fan of small-sized, varigated gravel myself.

 

[debbie888]

The best and cheapest sand is Argos Playsand at £2.99 per 15kg. Only trouble is it aint black!

Get black sand from the LFS but do please avoid that black (or any colour) quartz if you intend to keep cory, plecs etc.

Ok..so you do not advise black sand then?

 

[Callum]

lol, a black plec on black gravel, let the fun begin