Sand Vs Gravel (posts Appreciated)

[Torrean]

I was sure there was a pin about the pro's and cons of sand and gravel but I can't seem to find it. So what do you guys think. List all the pros and cons of each that you can think of (that haven't already been listed by someone else) and list any corrections, opinions, or elaborations concerning other peoples posts.

Pro's
sand
1. cheap. Playsand, pool filter sand, and all purpose sand are all dirt cheap.
2. Most fish prefer sand and some require it.
3. food and waste do not settle under the sand, Making it easy to tell when your tank needs to be cleaned.

Pro's gravel
1. Cheap. pea gravel which can be aquired from most hardware stores is relatively cheap
2. easy to clean. All you have to do is stick a gravel vac in it once a week.
3. easy to rinse. This is relatively true. It's easier to rinse than sand.
4. I believe most plants prefer gravel but I do not know this to be true.
5. does not show dirt quickly.
6. is easy to remove from the tank if you want to change substrate

Con's
Sand
1. pain in the neck to rinse unless you get a prerinsed sand like pool filter
2. pain in the neck to clean. This is entirely my opinion. Some will say that it is easier to clean sand than gravel. I say that it takes technique to clean sand, any idiot can clean a gravel substrate.
3. can damage magnetic driven impellers in filters.
4. Is more prone to anaerobic pockets
5. gets dirty very quickly
6. some sand can scratch your glass while you clean it with the magnetic algae scrubbers

Con's Gravel
1. detritus (food/waste/plant matter) settles into the sand, preventing you from being able to see when you need to clean the tank.
2. some fish do not like gravel. Especially the burrowing sort. I don't know of any that actually require it.
3. can get stuck under your tank and crack your bottom plate of glass.

 

[Bloo]

4. I believe most plants prefer gravel but I do not know this to be true.

6. some sand can scratch your glass while you clean it with the magnetic algae scrubbers

I don't think there's an overall "one is better than the other". And it mostly comes down to the fish kept and setup (which is why I didn't vote).

But the above are my 2 major gripes with sand - much as I (and my fish) love it.

Unless you have a deep sand bed (which is prone to those nasty anaerobic pockets) or a gravel bed of some sort (such as laterite), many plants struggle to root. Especially with a bunch of bottom dwelling fish in the tank. Even if there is a sub layer of laterite, as soon as you remove a plant, the laterite comes to the top and just looks nasty (in my opinion). Unless you can somehow match the sub-layer and sand colour. Tricky. Or, just not care what it looks like of course!

Despite always being ultra careful (and unless using a razor blade which I'm not keen on) to clean the front pane of glass, I always catch a grain or two of sand and have a few fine scratches. Very annoying.

My personal preference is sand.

 

[xing]

personnaly I prefer sand. Would never go back to gravel now and never had any problems with plants rooting. in fact I've found plants thrive better than with gravel - always had problems then

 

[Torrean]

CON
SAND
7. Some sand is expensive like tahitian moon sand

CON
GRAVEL
4. Most lfs gravel is significantly more expensive than most aquarium sands.

i didn't vote either because I think they are both wonderfull choices. One isn't better than the other except for specific curcumstances. Is there a way to edit the poll? I'd like to add a choice like they are the same or both are good

Bloo you can use a credit card or something similair if a razor blade scares you

 

[fishboy619]

ive changed to sand today, and can honest say, it was a pain in the ass to change, and still isnt finished!!!but it looks more natural, and the fish im hopeing to get (cories) will love it, if you start with sand before any water or fish is added (new tank) then it will look great and you can get into a routine and develop a tecnique of cleaning thats easy for you, but the gravel cames in lots of different colors and can look ace, some fish have it in their natural enviroment and its easy to clean. what ever you chose, depending of your fish, it looks good, IMO it depends on what the persons after in the end, but whatever happens, try to make the right decision the first time and not have to change one to the other

 

[Majjie]

I didn't vote either - because I can't make up my mind. I have three tanks with black gravel and three with - well .... sandy coloured .... sand. The plants seem to grow equally well in either - I have my sand quite deep but don't seem to have any problem with anaerobic pockets.

There is a huge difference in cleaning though. I can never find any poo/mulm on the sand (I only have smallish fish)- I get bits of bog wood and bits off the plants but no real dirt. In the gravel tanks I spend ages trying to vacuum every inch of the surface - through and around the plants - and suck up lots of dirty sludge.

It's much easier to do water changes on the sand - but I don't feel that I've really cleaned the tanks - and I don't really understand why there is such a difference. I suppose the the mulm in the sandy tanks get sucked up by the filter - but the difference is astounding

 

[Bloo]

Bloo you can use a credit card or something similair if a razor blade scares you

I've head about this method too and many seem to use it with success. But my "problem" is that my tank is very very deep and even if I stand on a ladder and reach all the way down, my fingertips can barely touch the sand (and I get soaked). So I can only use a scraper on a stick (the coarse sponge type) but it's very hard to negotiate cleaning the lower levels of the glass. PITA
Otherwise, good tip

 

[geo7x]

I voted for sand because i have it in all my tanks, and most of my fish are bottom dwellers that prefer sand (I just realised that practically all my fish prefer/require sand)

The only thing i have against it is that it is a pain in the you know what to vacuum to poop off, i still havent really got the hang of it and always end up sucking up a load of sand, and if you slip then vroom, youve got a ploom of sand rushing up your vac

 

[demonmagus]

is this the pin?

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=131373

 

[Bloo]

Geo, If most of them are bottom dwellers, why don't you add a powerhead pointing downwards at an angle? That way you'll get a current on the lower levels and get things moving. I have the same and correctly set up, doesn't blast the sand around. But it's enough to get the poo moving and sucked up by the filter. There seems to be only two small "dead spots" where the poo accumulates and it takes 5 seconds to suck it up from there.

is this the pin?

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=131373

I don't think so. That topic is primarily about sand.

 

[rubberdubber]

I use sand as I like bottom dwellers and have read that they can damage their barbles if coarse gravel is used.
the sand does look nice and the plants do root better, but I have to agree that cleaning it can be a fiddle.

 

[wayne84]

i will be changing to sand in my next set up looks very smart i think and like others have said some fish love it.
Just not done it yet as i no big plec is going to make a right mess

 

[Torrean]

no that's not the pin I was thinking of. I think the reason I thought there was already a pin like this was someone mentioned making a gravel Vs sand pin in another pinned topic

 

[fishboy619]

after changeing to sand ans it all settled now, i can say it looks a 100 times better then gravel. my bottom dwellers like it and it gives a lovely naturat effect, i only have sand, not gravel under the sand but have gravel patches ontop of the sand. it looks really good i think. next time i setup a tank, i will start off with sand.

 

[MegTheFish]

I didn't vote either - because I can't make up my mind. I have three tanks with black gravel and three with - well .... sandy coloured .... sand. The plants seem to grow equally well in either - I have my sand quite deep but don't seem to have any problem with anaerobic pockets.

There is a huge difference in cleaning though. I can never find any poo/mulm on the sand (I only have smallish fish)- I get bits of bog wood and bits off the plants but no real dirt. In the gravel tanks I spend ages trying to vacuum every inch of the surface - through and around the plants - and suck up lots of dirty sludge.

It's much easier to do water changes on the sand - but I don't feel that I've really cleaned the tanks - and I don't really understand why there is such a difference. I suppose the the mulm in the sandy tanks get sucked up by the filter - but the difference is astounding

I have the same problem! I have sand in a tank with tons of small fish, and I don't find -ANY- poop on the sand while going over it. However when I had gravel, there was tons of poop. Where does it go?!?! LoL