I am going to getr a 29 in about a month swo I'm doing some planning.
Should I get Sand or Gravel? Sand looks a lot LOT nicer. But I don't really know.
Should I get Sand or Gravel? Sand looks a lot LOT nicer. But I don't really know.
Sand or Gravel
- Thread starter cheeseluva
- Start date
Personally, I like sand. I changed my tank over from gravel a few months ago and it was a PITA. I have a 55G and it took about 4 hours so just make sure you like what you decide on so you never have to change it. You can use play sand from Lowes, Home Depot, ect as long as you rinse it VERY well. It is much cheaper than actual gravel or sand for an aquarium. It costs about $3 for a 50lb bag. But you have to remember with sand you have to stir it around about every week to make sure you dont get any deadly gas pockets in there.
i went substrate but i should've went sand because i like its natural look and brightness. you'll have to be a bit more careful with where the filters intake valves are and when vaccing. if planted, you'll want a base layer of flourite and then sand over. and yeah, sand is a whole lot cheaper than gravel. don't be fooled by those special aquarium sand and what not, play sand from Home Depot, Lowes as mentioned above will suffice. just be sure to rinse is at least 5-10 times before you place in tank to get rid of any dirt particles and what not. if you don't, your tank will be cloudy for a veru very long time.
i think when i decide to turn my 10G into a dwarf puffer tank, im definately going to use sand as the substrate.
i think when i decide to turn my 10G into a dwarf puffer tank, im definately going to use sand as the substrate.
gst4life said:
you have them in gravel substrate also. its when organic waste (food, fish waste, plant decy, etc etc) falls into the small crevices or openings in your substrate. they will decay and decompose created gases that can be deadly to your fish if they were to accidentally pop them. people are able to remove them with gravel vaccing, but its little different with sand as you can only lightly hover over the sand to remove the particles on the surface, not deep down inside. stirring the sand on occassion will release these pockets of gas safely during a water change.
Not to hijack this thread, but is there any nutrient value in mixing sand with existing, cultured gravel? I'm going to be going with a live plant setup soon, and was wondering if instead of getting more gravel in there before putting in my chosen substrate if sand would work well with the gravel and then the substrate on top? I'm thinking about 60lbs of Eco-Complete (the kind you don't need to rinse) on top of about 2" of Gravel/Sand.
i was going to say do both. thats kinda what sly2kusa said. i had sand, sand and gravel and gravel. i am now back to only gravel. i liked the sand just i wanted a change. both options are great. i was thinking about doing in a small tank one side gravel and the other side sand.
sly2kusa when i had the sand gravel i had sand on the bottom with about 1/4 inch or more of gravel on top. any way people want to do it is fine. you could mix the eco complet into the sand. you can put in below or above it. all that matters is if you like it.
sly2kusa when i had the sand gravel i had sand on the bottom with about 1/4 inch or more of gravel on top. any way people want to do it is fine. you could mix the eco complet into the sand. you can put in below or above it. all that matters is if you like it.
For what it's worth, I had gravel, switched to pool filter sand (which looked nice for awhile), then went back to gravel.
For my setup, gravel looks more natural to the fish I keep, and sand, being brighter, showed more "stuff" than gravel, was more of a pain to clean, and made the fish have a "washed out" look as opposed to gravel.
Plus I had to move all my intakes up to keep them from sucking up stirred up sand.
For my setup, gravel looks more natural to the fish I keep, and sand, being brighter, showed more "stuff" than gravel, was more of a pain to clean, and made the fish have a "washed out" look as opposed to gravel.
Plus I had to move all my intakes up to keep them from sucking up stirred up sand.
I just went with sand in my 5 gallon to test it out and see how I liked it. So far.... I like it alot. It looks so pretty and its tons easier burying things in it. I went to one of our gravel pits and got a 5 gallon bucket of play sand. FREE!! lol Its really fine, and it took days and days... ok only hours and hours to wash. lol Still had to run the tank 24 hrs before it cleared. I stuck a real plant in it, but I didn't add anything under the sand. Is that going to cause me problems? I have a bunch of pond snail in there too.