Sand, Gravel Or Bare Bottom?

[Midas]

I have had beach rock for my South American Cichlids and recently moved and changed up to a bare bottom.  I did so because I thought it would be easier to keep clean, which it is, but it feels boring and not so great looking.  So now I am thinking of getting sand.  Not sure how easy it will be since the tank is already filled with water and fish, but I would like to hear other peoples opinion of what they like and why before I decide.  Wish I could show some pictures of the beach rock cause I love the way it looked but all my pictures are about 2 MB and too big to upload on this site.

 

[NeonBlueLeon]

I like a finer gravel as well as sand.  Cheap "Petco" gravel just has nothing going for it, IMO.  I use bare-bottom for quarantine tanks only, for viewing poop.

 

[baker360360]

I use white aquarium sand and light coloured rocks(tuffa,limestone,dead coral) for my African lake tanganyikan cichlids

 

[Midas]

Do you ever have a problem with sand getting into your filters?

 

[Francesjane]

I prefer sand too...poo just gets sucked up real easy and it looks so much nicer although I do think some natural looking gravel looks nice too....don't like the jagged weird unnatural coloured gravel....I haven't had a problem with sand in the filter. I do have to replace sand now and again after doing a good clean but it's no ill store as it's not very often.

 

[Rob5]

Sand for me as I have Panda corys who love digging in the sand

I'm with Francesjane with the poo, I have managed to get the flow right in my tank and the poo goes straight into my filters

If you go to sand just make sure you wash it properly to get rid of the fine stuff

 

[baker360360]

Do you ever have a problem with sand getting into your filters?

A little but it's no big deal. I think if there is a lot going in it can damage it.
Sand is harder to clean wich is the only down side. It's better for many fish that dig or fish with barbs/babbles as they can get damaged in gravel.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

 

Do you ever have a problem with sand getting into your filters?

A little but it's no big deal. I think if there is a lot going in it can damage it.
Sand is harder to clean wich is the only down side. It's better for many fish that dig or fish with barbs/babbles as they can get damaged in gravel.
 

 
 
I disagree.  I believe sand is easier to clean, because you see more of the stuff that needs cleaning.  Gravel is better at camouflaging the detritus and allowing it to get into the bottom and not come out.
 
It takes patience to clean the sand, but I do believe that a sand tank is cleaner than a gravel tank.

 

[baker360360]

Do you ever have a problem with sand getting into your filters?

A little but it's no big deal. I think if there is a lot going in it can damage it.
Sand is harder to clean wich is the only down side. It's better for many fish that dig or fish with barbs/babbles as they can get damaged in gravel.

 
 
I disagree.  I believe sand is easier to clean, because you see more of the stuff that needs cleaning.  Gravel is better at camouflaging the detritus and allowing it to get into the bottom and not come out.
 
It takes patience to clean the sand, but I do believe that a sand tank is cleaner than a gravel tank.


I had gravel and could clean it in minutes with a gravel vac but sand takes 20 times longer you can't gravel vac it you have to get the hose as near as possible and try to salvage or replace the sand that will get sucked up. Also it's not just about the visible waste, sand is notoriously worse for getting build up of bad gases that can kill your fish. You will need to regularly turn all the sand or get some digging fish or invertebrates to do this. I tried mts snails but my cichlids liked the way they taste.

Defiantly agree that gravel hides waste and with clean looking sand you know its clean.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Well, if the sand is too deep, it can.  But, I've never had it that deep.  I also find that a few 'big rooted' plants can also help with that - like amazon swords (and root tabs).

 

[KirkyArcher]

My plants seem to do better in my completely gravel (fine) substrate tank over that of the completely sanded tank, I vacuum the gravel as if it were sand allowing some poop to find its way down to plants roots, and I also believe this helps with nitrates and phosphate production that the plants require.

 

[baker360360]

My plants seem to do better in my completely gravel (fine) substrate tank over that of the completely sanded tank, I vacuum the gravel as if it were sand allowing some poop to find its way down to plants roots, and I also believe this helps with nitrates and phosphate production that the plants require.

I noticed my plants quickly started to rot when I switched to sand(didn't use ferts).
I now have cichlids so not worried about plants. Plants need some of the waste to feed on

 

[Midas]

Lots of good points in here, thanks.  I went and priced out sand at the lfs but they told me "white" may not be a good choice for me because the fish may become lighter in color.  Is this true?  I generally don't believe anything a lfs says.  Check out this picture of my midas cichlid.  I would rather have him become more red like when I got him 4 years ago, but now I fear if I get white sand he will turn lighter.
 
Also not worried about plants, although I would like to get my nitrates down, these fish only see plants as toys and things to break up and spit out.  No chance plants will grow regardless of the type of substrate.  I am however worried about the size of my fish poop.  I need strong pressure from the vac to pick it up and that will likely end up sucking up sand instead. 
 
Maybe I will just put the beach rock back in.

 

[Fishmanic]

I saw a vid on youtube where the poster showed how he would stir up all the sand to get the poo and food leftovers floating in the tank and then he would vacuum / patiral water change the tank.  It would take out a lot of the debris and most of the rest would go into the filter.   Not sure it's a good idea.  Opinions?

 

[Midas]

Here is an older picture with the beach rock.