Should I put gravel in my fry tank?

[gale]

I put a snail in there to keep away any algae plus clean up uneaten food and the snail poop is bugging me. I can suction it out a few times a day but replacing the water isn't so easy-I can't estimate water conditioner for a pint of water and I can't use water that's been sitting because it'll be too cold (no heater). I feel like if there's gravel at least I don't have to look at it. lol. Is it a bad idea? I figure they'll be in there for a month or more before I can move them back into the big tank, right?

 

[WILDER]

The problem with gravel in a fry tank is that when you come to cleaning it you can also suck the fry up, and also the fry can bury themselves in it, your water conditioner how much do you add to a gallon of water, it's really best not to have any gravel in the tank.

 

[GSD]

id say no the fry will bury themselves and it will be harder to clean

 

[gale]

Hm ok. Well I only have 3 fry in there so it would be easy enough to make sure where they all were before I did it. That's ok though-I'll get a small gravel vac and suck up the junk with no gravel and be able to get it clean. I guess if I didn't want to do a water change that often I can just put the water back but strain it through a net first. Or something.

 

[The-Raven]

glass marbles = winner for fry tank substrate

 

[guppymonkey]

glass marbles = winner for fry tank substrate

For egg scattering breeding tanks marbles are great but for fry tanks they aren't really that good. The fry can get stuck underneath the marbles and die. It seems like something that wouldn't happen but these fry aren't exactly the smartest creatures out there. Bare bottom tanks are the easiest to take care of.

If you don't like seeing the poop on the bottom you could get a heater for your fry tank and change some of the water every day (which will also make your fry grow much faster).

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I have fine white sand in my fry tank and it is very good; the fry don't bury themselves in it and it is much easier to clean in the long run than gravel although mess may look worse on it. I have found you can position the tank filter/s so that the current/flow moves any waste to a low level sand area located in the tank which can be anywhere of your choice and makes it so you don't have to look at the waste all the time between gravel vacs/water changes.

 

[sunniesunn]

I have gravel in my 5 gallon fry tank and I haven't had any problems with cleaning and the fry getting stuck and there is 13 ry in there butt I guess it just depends on the fry and tank.......

 

[gale]

I ended up getting a heater (but didn't like it so I ordered a new one) and will just suction it out every couple days. It's not bugging me as much and the snail really is cleaning up the extra food so I guess I can't complain too much.

 

[terrorist_124]

gravel is not good in a fry tank