Sand?

[ICE CUBE]

is sand a good gravel to use wud the fish not irratate it thanks

 

[ox5477]

Sand is a great sustrate to use for many fish breeds as it provides a soft cushion on the tank bottom instead of rocky gravel. It also alows for easy cleanup for you , the aquarist, as the debris from the tank will sit on top of the sand, instead of falling down in between like with gravel. It also looks much nicer in many application and the occasional quick tail lash from your fish will not kick up enough sand to cause a blackout condition.

 

[ICE CUBE]

thanks so have you got many tanks all with sand

 

[my fat fish]

wouldent sand be harder to clean tho with most of the botom cleaners suck of the particles wouldent they suck up the sand or do you clean sand anouther way cos originally i wanted sand but think i thought better of it ?

 

[jayjay]

I'll slowly moving my tanks over to gravel. I prefer it soo much on looks and effort in cleaning it. Fish can just push the sand out again through their gills or 'spit' it back out.

 

[my fat fish]

tho i have found that my fish like playimng with the gravel just oving the peices that they can fit n ther mouths to other locations really random acyally but as ther small fish its only my molley's tht can do it and its onlysmall peices but still funny

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

tho i have found that my fish like playimng with the gravel just oving the peices that they can fit n ther mouths to other locations really random acyally but as ther small fish its only my molley's tht can do it and its onlysmall peices but still funny

The proble with gravel is fish can accidentally choke on the stuff and die though.
Sands much better as it can be easily spit out by the fish and is a much more compatable/natural substrate fish like corys and khuli loaches who sift through it to find food.

 

[ICE CUBE]

i have a gravel tank witch i was going to change to sand but if i was useing syphon wuden the sand go up it?

 

[jayjay]

Some fish are naturally found on gravel substrate remember, so not all would choke as they are used to living on it.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

With cleaning sand, you can just net any waste off it, then stir it up with your hand (to prevent it going hard) and then do a water change- this is how i have been cleaning my sand for years now and works very well. I have never regretted the change from gravel to sand in all of my tanks .
Because it doesn't trap waste in it, owning a syphon or gravel vac is not nesarsary as long as you keep the surface clean and stir it up every now and then to keep it soft and aerated.

Some fish are naturally found on gravel substrate remember, so not all would choke as they are used to living on it.

But for the majority of fish is holds no bennefet to their health though, while as sand can. There are far more fish out there which do best on a sand substrate than a gravel one- i'm not saying gravel is useless, but the vast majority of the time the only purpose it holds in the aquarium is its appearance, which generally comes down to a matter of personal taste.

 

[jayjay]

I wouldn't stir it, it's not dangerous to not stir it, it does good if anerobic conditions are present in the sand.

 

[Araxen]

I've used sand on 2 of my tanks and love it. I made a mistake of using gravel for my Betta tank and I'm trying to come up with a plan to convert it over to sand.

Sand, imo is so much easier to clean as everything just sits right on top of the sand. All I do is hold the siphon just above the sand and the garbage gets sucked right up. Not to mention my cory's and loaches love sand!

 

[ICE CUBE]

is sand expensive?

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I wouldn't stir it, it's not dangerous to not stir it, it does good if anerobic conditions are present in the sand.

Not at all! Anerobic conditions build up bubbles of nitrites, which if are left to grow unchecked, can rise to the surface all at once causing major water quality problems. Thus it is far better to stir the sand every now and then to prevent these conditions from arising.

 

[jayjay]

No, I have loads of it, I think there are 25KG bags at my LFS for like £5-6.

Tokis, the anerobic conditions lower nitrate and from everything I know do not create nitrite. They give off sulphur biproducts but those are harmless when they come into contact with oxygen rich water, like the water in our tanks.