I appretiate your concern for my bichirs having gravel but they seem to be doing great, they eat really well and are out 24/7 and even come up to me when I go by the glass. The eyes on the aro do look fake and thats because on whatever the program that I bring my pictures from my digital onto I tried to do the red eye reducer thing and thats what happend... thought I explained that, must have been a diff forum. anyway back to the bichirs, if I could I would do a sandy substrate but that tank was set up LONG before I purchased the bichirs and is just being used as a growout... once they are in their final home they will have sand. I've done my research so dont get in a hissy fit if you check out the threads asking questions on AP and read all of annes articles than your good to go. I put some photo taking tips at the top of the page somewhere, also if you visit aquaticpredators there is a section all on picture taking I believe