Sand 'v' Gravel

[cjohnston]

Does anybody have an opinion, I am going to get a 5ft tank and would like to try sand, however, have one or two questions.

Obviously a gravel vac will not work, so how I do I clean the bottom.

What type of sand can I use, I have heard that child's play sand it cheap and okay.

What are peoples general opinions please?

 

[mlawson]

Although I believe Gravel is more practical I still prefer sand.
In my opinion it looks better than most gravel and many loaches and catfish species enjoy it.
I never really clean my sand, but the best way is to rake it up any syphon the debris from the water.
The other problems with sand is that if left to thick and compact an anaerobic build up can occur, to counter this
you could add a heater cable. Also you can't use undergravel filters.

Play sand or silica sand are normally ideal for tanks. Have quite a thin layer aswell.
Despite this I still think other gravels can be appealing but not the standard pea gravel.

 

[smithrc]

Please do a search
There is loads of info on here as this is a subject that comes up all the time.
(I think there is even a pinned topic on the subject)

 

[cjohnston]

mlawson

Thanks, to be honest I would have probably put a thick layer down, how deep is yours??

 

[fishboy619]

i prefer sand, it looks more natural and i belive its easier to clean. you can see the dirt and know when it need cleaning, unlike gravel where it falls though. i heard somewhere any thickness more than 2cm and nitrate pockets will build up. adding a few cories to stir up the top of the sand will help, so will kuhliis as they dig. if your that bothered, there is always malysian trumpet snails. i hold my siphon tube an inch above the sand and it sucks the dirt off.i used argos £2.49 playsand, cheaper then aquarium, sand, doesnt effect the PH and looks good.

 

[cjohnston]

Excellent, Argos here I come.

Thanks to all.

 

[smithrc]

i prefer sand, it looks more natural and i belive its easier to clean. you can see the dirt and know when it need cleaning, unlike gravel where it falls though. i heard somewhere any thickness more than 2cm and nitrate pockets will build up. adding a few cories to stir up the top of the sand will help, so will kuhliis as they dig. if your that bothered, there is always malysian trumpet snails. i hold my siphon tube an inch above the sand and it sucks the dirt off.i used argos £2.49 playsand, cheaper then aquarium, sand, doesnt effect the PH and looks good.

But make sure you wash it really well

 

[cjohnston]

Will do, thanks

 

[Teri]

I've just got a couple of loaches and i think they'd be happier with sand instead of gravel to dig arund in, do i have to replace all of the gravel with sand, or could i just have it in one area? also, how exactly do i put in the sand, do i have to siphon out all the water first, or can i just use a funnel or something?

 

[natural blue nina]

I swapped my gravel for sand last night - albeing in a smaller tank than yours. I completely emptied my tank (fish in backup tank) of gravel prior to adding sand, and I still have a couple of random grains which made it int the sand - bl**dy annoying!!

As for the cleaning thing - I have a mini gravel vac which I struggled to use to clean actual gravel. It works really well on sand, so it seems, so maybe the answer is to buy the next smaller gravelvac for sand!!

Oh, and my tank looks sooooo much nicer with a pale sand than darker gravel!