Oscar Tank: Sand/gravel

[mattlee]

Why did I half expect somewhere someone had an oscar who munches on MTS

I'd say if you can get some for nothing or very little then get some and give it a whirl...I guess it depends how much you want sand in a tank really...I have my Geo's to think about so sand is a must for me

Keith munches on pretty much anything tbh.... even my hand if im not carefull

 

[xdaCostax]

I think Ill be getting white gravel, so I can pretend its white sand when I squint my eyes.

 

[mattlee]

I think Ill be getting white gravel, so I can pretend its white sand when I squint my eyes.

you might redret that if im being honest as white gravel can look quite cheap and nasty if you are going for gravel then what about black?

 

[always4lora]

Gravel vaccing sand in the traditional sense is basically a no-no. Can't do it without sucking up virtually all the sand. You have to hover your vac or tube over the sand to pick up debris.
Sand could be done with an oscar no problem, but it would be a lot of effort and you'd probably want to syphon up the poo most days to keep the tank looking reasonable.

Gravel is good with fish which produce lots of big poo, as it tends to visually hide the poo somewhat. In one of my tanks I have 1-2mm gravel, which actually looks and acts much like sand, but you can also gravel vac it. It's a good compromise between the two.
Personally, with an oscar I would use a smooth 3-5mm gravel. They will enjoy digging in it. It won't hurt their mouths, and should be pretty easy to vac and maintain for you.
No substrate is another option, bit personally I don't like the look of that, and also it removes the enjoyment an oscar might have of digging in it.

Sand and Oscar's Would only NOT be a problem if you don't mind replacing impeller's on filter's at unreasonable rate.
even with intakes suspended high in the water, and covered with pre-filter sponge, the propensity for digging that Osacar's are prone to do would make sand substrate problematic(damaged filter's) as the fish matures.

Pretty poor comment, i have sand in both my tanks and yet to have any impellar probelms. have a fluval fx5 and eheim 2078e on one tank and a sump with 3 return pumps on all with no problems.

 

[Verminator89]

No i think its a valid point always4lora, if not a little exaggerated at all. It aught to be highlighted as a potential risk with sand and filters as it 'can' happen. I've never had a problem, but then again i have quite a heavy/weighted sand, not a fine/light one. So to say its a poor comment is a little harsh on poster. Back to the OP, just concider sand 'can' damage filters if too much gets inside, as i said though, i'm yet to experience any difficulties with sand and filters.

 

[always4lora]

No i think its a valid point always4lora, if not a little exaggerated at all. It aught to be highlighted as a potential risk with sand and filters as it 'can' happen. I've never had a problem, but then again i have quite a heavy/weighted sand, not a fine/light one. So to say its a poor comment is a little harsh on poster. Back to the OP, just concider sand 'can' damage filters if too much gets inside, as i said though, i'm yet to experience any difficulties with sand and filters.

It's a harsh comment yet you go on to say that its never happened to you, you want find many it has happened to , % wise not a lot of people.

 

[kaivalagi]

No i think its a valid point always4lora, if not a little exaggerated at all. It aught to be highlighted as a potential risk with sand and filters as it 'can' happen. I've never had a problem, but then again i have quite a heavy/weighted sand, not a fine/light one. So to say its a poor comment is a little harsh on poster. Back to the OP, just concider sand 'can' damage filters if too much gets inside, as i said though, i'm yet to experience any difficulties with sand and filters.

It's a harsh comment yet you go on to say that its never happened to you, you want find many it has happened to , % wise not a lot of people.

I'd have to agree, only incorrect setups would be at risk I think.

I have "fine sand" to such an extent if there is a disturbance a lot of particles stay adrift in the water for quite a while (I do have a string current as I am using a power head) and I have never had an issue in either of my filters since I started using them 2 years back. I have my 2 filter's inlet pipes quite high up the tank, atleast 8 inches away from the surface of the sand, and I have never had issues...I think so long as the filter is setup correctly and maintained suitably all will be fine...

If you have inlets next to the surface then you're asking for it to be honest and that likely accounts for the few bad cases I think!

 

[xdaCostax]

Well I havent decided in the colour yet, I have had black gravel before in smaller tanks and didnt mind it. I actually always liked blue gravel but that could just be because growing up thats what my goldfish tank had. I have to decide what I am going to put into the tank aswel, I know oscars tend to move things around when there older, I might put 1 large decoration in there and I want it to match with the gravel.

 

[Verminator89]

As a safe rule of thumb anything that looks more naturally coloured/textured you'll stand a higher chance of liking it long term. Also it will look better than the more playfull colours/textures of gravel/sand.

 

[GShorty1981]

Black and white sand looks pretty good (not together) still personally wouldn't use sand in a Oscar or Plec tanks they are far to messy

 

[Liam50]

No i think its a valid point always4lora, if not a little exaggerated at all. It aught to be highlighted as a potential risk with sand and filters as it 'can' happen. I've never had a problem, but then again i have quite a heavy/weighted sand, not a fine/light one. So to say its a poor comment is a little harsh on poster. Back to the OP, just concider sand 'can' damage filters if too much gets inside, as i said though, i'm yet to experience any difficulties with sand and filters.

It's a harsh comment yet you go on to say that its never happened to you, you want find many it has happened to , % wise not a lot of people.

I'd have to agree, only incorrect setups would be at risk I think.

I have "fine sand" to such an extent if there is a disturbance a lot of particles stay adrift in the water for quite a while (I do have a string current as I am using a power head) and I have never had an issue in either of my filters since I started using them 2 years back. I have my 2 filter's inlet pipes quite high up the tank, atleast 8 inches away from the surface of the sand, and I have never had issues...I think so long as the filter is setup correctly and maintained suitably all will be fine...

If you have inlets next to the surface then you're asking for it to be honest and that likely accounts for the few bad cases I think!

i have to disagree with the point about incorrect setups being at risk. i would oen like you to define "incorrect" as i when i purchased my fx5 i had the intake where the manufactors generally want you to have and thats at the bottom thats why the hook pipes are so long. i found that atleast every month i would hear my motor running louder and i knew straight away that it was sand in the impellor so i would have to take the whole thing apart and clean the system out. i swapper it in the end for a eheim series as the pump is at the top of the pump rather than at the bottom where the sand gathers. i would say i regret going with my cheaper sand option and would advise anyone using an external cannister to go for a substrate that is heavier and won't get sucked up by a filter as easily.

I would like to add i have had no issues with my current filter but i still do find sand in it it just doesn't make its way to the pump and is in far smaller quantities.

 

[kaivalagi]

No i think its a valid point always4lora, if not a little exaggerated at all. It aught to be highlighted as a potential risk with sand and filters as it 'can' happen. I've never had a problem, but then again i have quite a heavy/weighted sand, not a fine/light one. So to say its a poor comment is a little harsh on poster. Back to the OP, just concider sand 'can' damage filters if too much gets inside, as i said though, i'm yet to experience any difficulties with sand and filters.

It's a harsh comment yet you go on to say that its never happened to you, you want find many it has happened to , % wise not a lot of people.

I'd have to agree, only incorrect setups would be at risk I think.

I have "fine sand" to such an extent if there is a disturbance a lot of particles stay adrift in the water for quite a while (I do have a string current as I am using a power head) and I have never had an issue in either of my filters since I started using them 2 years back. I have my 2 filter's inlet pipes quite high up the tank, atleast 8 inches away from the surface of the sand, and I have never had issues...I think so long as the filter is setup correctly and maintained suitably all will be fine...

If you have inlets next to the surface then you're asking for it to be honest and that likely accounts for the few bad cases I think!

i have to disagree with the point about incorrect setups being at risk. i would oen like you to define "incorrect" as i when i purchased my fx5 i had the intake where the manufactors generally want you to have and thats at the bottom thats why the hook pipes are so long. i found that atleast every month i would hear my motor running louder and i knew straight away that it was sand in the impellor so i would have to take the whole thing apart and clean the system out. i swapper it in the end for a eheim series as the pump is at the top of the pump rather than at the bottom where the sand gathers. i would say i regret going with my cheaper sand option and would advise anyone using an external cannister to go for a substrate that is heavier and won't get sucked up by a filter as easily.

I would like to add i have had no issues with my current filter but i still do find sand in it it just doesn't make its way to the pump and is in far smaller quantities.

When I said incorrect I meant "common sense wrong"....I know I have fine sand and therefore position my intakes higher up, in fact I thought it was common knowledge when using sand to place inlet pipes atleast a few inches away from the sand's surface.

If you want to put them near the substrate surface and risk taking in sand that's your choice and if the manufacturers suggest putting the intakes in like that and you have an issue because of it I would suggest you take it up with them and get free replacement parts maybe? I'd hazard a guess though that the inlet pipes are long to allow the owner to adjust them as they see fit in a variety of tank heights and situations.

Like I said, not an issue for me and hasn't been for the past couple of years....each to their own though...maybe the fx5 sucks too hard for fine sand and that's the issue? Inlets mounted higher would have helped though I have 2 tetratec ex1200 running, not nearly as strong, about half the flow rate per unit I think right?

All I know is I like the finer sand I have because my eartheaters enjoy it so I will accommodate for it.....but then my tank doesn't have an Oscar in it...

 

[roadmaster]

Gravel vaccing sand in the traditional sense is basically a no-no. Can't do it without sucking up virtually all the sand. You have to hover your vac or tube over the sand to pick up debris.
Sand could be done with an oscar no problem, but it would be a lot of effort and you'd probably want to syphon up the poo most days to keep the tank looking reasonable.

Gravel is good with fish which produce lots of big poo, as it tends to visually hide the poo somewhat. In one of my tanks I have 1-2mm gravel, which actually looks and acts much like sand, but you can also gravel vac it. It's a good compromise between the two.
Personally, with an oscar I would use a smooth 3-5mm gravel. They will enjoy digging in it. It won't hurt their mouths, and should be pretty easy to vac and maintain for you.
No substrate is another option, bit personally I don't like the look of that, and also it removes the enjoyment an oscar might have of digging in it.

Sand and Oscar's Would only NOT be a problem if you don't mind replacing impeller's on filter's at unreasonable rate.
even with intakes suspended high in the water, and covered with pre-filter sponge, the propensity for digging that Osacar's are prone to do would make sand substrate problematic(damaged filter's) as the fish matures.

Pretty poor comment, i have sand in both my tanks and yet to have any impellar probelms. have a fluval fx5 and eheim 2078e on one tank and a sump with 3 return pumps on all with no problems.

How is it that my comment is poor? Plenty of folks,myself included,, Have expierienced problems such as I
described when using sand for substrate in tanks holding fishes that like to root around in the substrate.
The fact that you have not expierienced such a problem YET,,, Holds little meaning and I am happy for you.
Does not I feel, make my comment poor, but rather provides OP with information on probability/possibility.
Cheers.