aquarium gravel

[steveeas]

Hi all. Transitioning from failing 72g bowfront to 120 g tank. My seven year old clowns are cooling their heels in a aerated, heated garbage can. All appears well with them. Thinking of using natural pea gravel from home depot as my substrate. it's about all i can afford at the moment (this was a rush transition). Is pea gravel generally easy on fish barbels, etc.? Secondly, i'm about real short on seasoned water due to the upgrade in tanks. Any suggestions re how to make up that difference with minimal impact on my fish?
thks a lot.
steve in texas

 

[Linda S]

I'm in Killeen, and use water straight from the tap dosed with amquel+ What are your water parameters and how do you usually season your water and why?

 

[tanker]

Seasoned water??? What's that?? I agree with Linda. Just use plain tap water with Amquel.

 

[Taysius]

Not sure about the gravel but is sand out of the question with clowns? ( I don't know much about them other than they are gorgeous and get big.) Pool filter sand is pretty cheap and I know that it's corydora safe.

Also, I agree with the tap + a dechlorinator. Aging water is one of those older practices that isn't really done anymore.

 

[Rbishop]

I would go with sand.

 

[kj5kb]

For cheap gravel, the all-purpose gravel from the concrete section @ home depot is great. ~$4/bag. It's natural river gravel and is generally smooth. I've been using it w/corys for years with no problems. Needs rinsed well before going in tank.

For cheap sand, pool filter sand, or 50/50 pool filter/play sand. IMHO the 50/50 mix looks more natural (less artifical).

For cheap declorinator, Weco brand dechlor in the green bottle is a steal. It's just a dechlor, nothing else, but it works fine for treating new water. I prefer and use Prime for most things, but I keep a bottle of dechlor around too.

 

[jrow8162]

Sand or gravel will be fine for the clowns. I have gravel in my tank and my clowns do fine. As for the water, I just use tap water and treat it with Prime.