Which Do You Like Better, Sand Or Gravel

[meggofishy]

I have gravel in my tank right now and I went to a pet store today and their tanks are so nice looking with the sand would it be a good choice for me to switch to sand?

 

[attibones]

Sand is really a great substrate. I've got it only in one tank right now, but I'm getting ready to start adding it to three of my tanks. I like it because it looks really nice and natural, but it is also pretty easy to clean. Most of the gunk sits on top of the sand instead of between the rocks. Most fish also prefer it to gravel. Gravel is not a bad substrate though.

 

[McCool]

Sand! Sand!

 

[misterpro]

Sand hands down. The only "downside" I can find is that you see fish n#2's. (but that makes them easier to hoover up also...)

 

[Blondielovesfish]

I'm not sure how many other people have been told this but when I asked my LFS about having sand with the tank I was looking at the person there told me it would stuff up the filter. I'm not sure if this is true or not but I would still take precautions!

 

[TallTree01]

Gravel. My filtration is under gravel so sand would screw it up.

 

[tomtomtom1230]

I'm not sure how many other people have been told this but when I asked my LFS about having sand with the tank I was looking at the person there told me it would stuff up the filter. I'm not sure if this is true or not but I would still take precautions!

 
The information that was given to you is somewhat wrong. It certainly has the potential to clog up filter sponges if it's loose in the water column, although sand is - relative to water - heavy and will therefore settle pretty quickly. A quick rinse of the filter sponges once sand has (re)settled once putting it in or stirring it up would be all that is required.

 

[Lunar Jetman]

Having used both over the last 25 odd years I'm currently using gravel. I found sand looked nice but would compact down if you didn't stir it regularly/. Also it would level out quite quickly so any contours I had in the tank to generate depth were lost, even with some rock barriers in places.
 
Gravel moves too but I've found not as much and not so quickly. Either works as a substrate so it's personal choice really.

 

[frapadoodle]

I agree with Jetman, that it is a personal choice.
But saying that I prefer sand. No problems with it compacting. I do get poo corner, but easily cleaned up. Don't find contours moved too much, but don't have pit diggers yet.

 

[aether.ed]

Sand every time. Alot easier to clean and the bottom dwellers appreciate it!

 

[meggofishy]

I think I'll definitely switch to sand now, I like the look a lot better and my oto will like it. thanks guys !!

 

[Shelster]

I currently have one and a half tanks with sand

Started to use it again for my betta set up and love it! - I've got the black unipac one:

I found his tank so easy to clean today I shoved some in my 54 litre (didnt have enough time to do the whole tank) but am certainly planning to soon.

 

[zain611]

Everyone has different choices like with sand i heard people said it gets dirty and it would be difficult to clean because its like trying to clean like a million grains also you would see the fishes waste settled on top but i think it depends on the type of sand you get like i have the pets@home sand which urprisingly makes it hard to see the fishes waste and its hard to tell if it gets dirty because it has a mix of black, brown sugar and darker colours on it which my cories love and is probably like a blanket for my otos whenever they reach the ground

 

[This Old Spouse]

I switched to sand more than a year ago because I have cory in all my tanks. It is so much easier to keep my tanks clean because all that poo and gunk don't fall down into the gravel. It just sits on top and I use a hose to just swirl around above the surface and the gunk goes right up the hose. 
 
I used play sand from the hardware store (really inexpensive) and the stuff we get here looks like the bottom of a lake, so it's very natural. I got pool filter sand once because I thought I wanted perfectly white sand, but I found I didn't like the look as much. My 20g cory tank is all play sand and I like the look much better. One of these days I'm going to completely switch out the white sand in my 55g and replace with play sand.
 
One word of caution ... if you do use sand you need to rinse, rinse, rinse it, and then rinse it again before putting it in your tank to avoid cloudiness and damage to your filter. The LFS person who said it would clog your filter apparently attempted to start up the filter immediately after putting unwashed sand in the tank, and yep, that would clog it for sure.
 
If you do take the plunge and switch it out, it's best to put the fish in another container with their filter and heater until you've finished the process.

 

[zain611]

The best method to clean sand is the bottle method. i tried it and it did leave a cloudy look but that eventually went away during the night