Sand or gravel?

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Metalhead88

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If all goes as planned, I'll soon be upgrading and setting up a larger tank for my american cichlids and I'm just brainstorming for some ideas. The new tank is a 90g.

I have a convict, blood parrot, salvini, and raphael catfish that will be moved to the 90g

I was pretty much dead set on a natural looking gravel.

But today for whatever reason, I'm liking sand.

I have a little 10 gallon set up with pool filter sand and I like that for the small tank. I feel like gravel may be easier and look better as well for a larger tank with larger fish. What do you guys think?
 
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If all goes as planned, I'll soon be upgrading and setting up a larger tank for my american cichlids and I'm just brainstorming for some ideas. The new tank is a 90g.

I have a convict, blood parrot, salvini, and raphael catfish that will be moved to the 90g

I was pretty much dead set on a natural looking gravel like this one https://www.petsmart.com/fish/decor...es/top-fin-premium-aquarium-gravel-17571.html

But today for whatever reason, I'm liking sand.

I have a little 10 gallon set up with pool filter sand and I like that for the small tank. I feel like gravel may be easier and look better as well for a larger tank with larger fish. What do you guys think?

I'm having a similar question. Byron says sand is OK. I trust what he says. First off, just say no to that colored gravel and find something naturally colored. But that's just my preference. I have that exact same color of gravel, as in your picture, in my 20 gallon and I hate it but I'm too cheap to get rid of it. In your case, with the cichlids, since they love to move things, maybe a mix of sand and gravel.
 
I'm having a similar question. Byron says sand is OK. I trust what he says. First off, just say no to that colored gravel and find something naturally colored. But that's just my preference. I have that exact same color of gravel, as in your picture, in my 20 gallon and I hate it but I'm too cheap to get rid of it. In your case, with the cichlids, since they love to move things, maybe a mix of sand and gravel.

Sorry, the link didn't take into account the actual gravel I selected. I do not at all want colored gravel. The one I like looks like this
1zl3g2s.jpg


I think I saw your post and that's one thing that got me thinking. If I go with sand, it will definitely be pool filter sand. I had play sand before in that tank and switched it out for pool filter sand. It's a little finer and seems to stay in place better. I like the appearance better too.

The salvini likes to dig. The catfish probably moves the most gravel around currently buy fanning his entire body and makes almost like a nest. I've never had sand in a cichlid tank before so I have no idea how things would end up.
 
I find it is usually better to aim for an aquascape that replicates the habitat. The fish will be less stressed (substrate can indeed stress out fish), show more natural behaviours, and these should be our goal.

The Convict occurs in flowing water streams and rivers but also in lakes and ponds. it prefers a rocky habitat, so a substrate of pea gravel would work well here. The Salvini occurs in a similar habitat. The parrot is not a natural species but a hybrid, and I believe there is still some uncertainty as to the species crossed, so it will likely accept what it is given.

Colour is very important, to fish and to the aquarist viewing the tank. Aim for a natural pea gravel; there is a nice brown-tone pea gravel and a black-toned. Pea gravel substrate, several rocks (smooth river rock is ideal, in sizes representing boulders down to pebbles), and chunks of bogwood will replicate its natural habitat. Large rock must be secure, as this fish will dig and dislodge everything. Substrate-rooted plants are not possible, but Java Fern and Anubias secured to rock and wood are useful. Floating plants are advisable, as the Convict naturally never ventures into open water but remains under cover.

I know each has their own taste, but I agree with post #2 that the blue/green gravel is not a good idea. You don't want a substrate that draws your eye from the fish, not to mention the colour disparity. :fish:
 
Sorry, the link didn't take into account the actual gravel I selected. I do not at all want colored gravel. The one I like looks like this
1zl3g2s.jpg


I think I saw your post and that's one thing that got me thinking. If I go with sand, it will definitely be pool filter sand. I had play sand before in that tank and switched it out for pool filter sand. It's a little finer and seems to stay in place better. I like the appearance better too.

The salvini likes to dig. The catfish probably moves the most gravel around currently buy fanning his entire body and makes almost like a nest. I've never had sand in a cichlid tank before so I have no idea how things would end up.

That's better, more what I was thinking previously [photo attached]. I would not go with sand in this case.
 

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Sorry, the link didn't take into account the actual gravel I selected. I do not at all want colored gravel. The one I like looks like this
1zl3g2s.jpg


I think I saw your post and that's one thing that got me thinking. If I go with sand, it will definitely be pool filter sand. I had play sand before in that tank and switched it out for pool filter sand. It's a little finer and seems to stay in place better. I like the appearance better too.

The salvini likes to dig. The catfish probably moves the most gravel around currently buy fanning his entire body and makes almost like a nest. I've never had sand in a cichlid tank before so I have no idea how things would end up.
Yeah buddy! That's the right color. In the wild there's all kinds of things in the substrate and all kinds of fish in the water. Maybe a mix might be a pretty good thing.
 
That's better, more what I was thinking previously [photo attached]. I would not go with sand in this case.

I like that too. I've been to a few stores recently and haven't seen anything that looks like that.

I have colored gravel currently (green, blue, teal, black) and I've grown to hate it just like Back in the Fold. That gravel is over 15 years old. I remember picking it out when I was in middle school. As far as quality, its held up great. I added some black to it to take some color out a while ago I've been dying to get rid of it for long time. Changing substrate is a real pain.

So yeah, finally getting rid of that stuff.
 
Yeah buddy! That's the right color. In the wild there's all kinds of things in the substrate and all kinds of fish in the water. Maybe a mix might be a pretty good thing.

Mixing might be a good possibility as well. Maybe something that's like a smoother pebble? Something like this, but smaller
x2mgb7.png

My brother mixed something similar to what I posted on the last post and the pic on this post on his jaguar tank. It looks great, but the big pebbles would be too big for my needs. His jaguar takes mouthfuls of those larger pebbles. The salvini probably wouldn't even be able to pick one up.
 
I just can't be a fan of pea sized gravel as too much plant/fish waster and uneaten food - detritus gets down under, decays, and pollutes the water. It requires constant gravel vacuuming. So I much prefer a somewhat coarse sand. I have pool filter sand in a couple of tanks and I never need to touch it - the Malaysian Trumpet Snails do the 'cleaning'. I also feel that coarse sand is a better substrate for rooted plants, but likely not an issue for a cichlid tank that usually requires plastic plants as they often destroy living plants.
If you're into spending the extra time (an extra hour or so) weekly to gravel vac, it's a moot point and the natural looking pea gravel would be fine.
 
Sand= Easier cleaning and more natural look

Gravel = Starter substrate And usually cheaper to purchase!

:)
 
Sand= Easier cleaning and more natural look

Gravel = Starter substrate And usually cheaper to purchase!

:)

Well as far as price goes, the sand I use is far cheaper than gravel. I've used pool filter sand for maybe 10 years in the one tank and would absolutely use it again if I went with sand. A 50 lb bag is like 10 bucks.

I'm looking at about 60 bucks for 75 lbs of gravel.

I'm not too worried about price this time around with that being said.

I also don't find sand to be any easier (or harder for that matter) to clean. The poo stays on the top and is easy to pick up, but I have to be careful to not suck sand. With gravel, I just stick it in a few different spots. I really don't suck up all that much crap from the gravel.
 
I just can't be a fan of pea sized gravel as too much plant/fish waster and uneaten food - detritus gets down under, decays, and pollutes the water. It requires constant gravel vacuuming. So I much prefer a somewhat coarse sand. I have pool filter sand in a couple of tanks and I never need to touch it - the Malaysian Trumpet Snails do the 'cleaning'. I also feel that coarse sand is a better substrate for rooted plants, but likely not an issue for a cichlid tank that usually requires plastic plants as they often destroy living plants.
If you're into spending the extra time (an extra hour or so) weekly to gravel vac, it's a moot point and the natural looking pea gravel would be fine.

I don't have any problem with waste getting down under in my tank with gravel and really don't spend much more time with my weekly water changes....I definitely don't have that problem in the tank that has sand. I use pool filter sand too and would do it again for this tank if sand is what I go with.
 
Just avoid white. White substrate (most pool filter sand I have seen is white) is stressful on fish.
 
got it. the stuff i'd use is like a tannish brown color
 

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