sand or gravel?? advice please!

G

gfunk101uk

AC Members
Oct 15, 2005
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hi, i am setting up a new 2ft tropical tank, but i have the choice of an under gravel filter.. (with gravel) or sand with fluval plus2 cartridge filter.

i already have 2 other tanks with sand and cartridge filters, and the sand stays very clean,
if i use gravel, will it require maintenance to keep it clean? and what is the best type of filter for gravel- cartridge or under gravel filter?

please help!!
thanx, giles :)
 
Ok I was a UGF guy untill recently when my UGF had issues and killed off my entire tank in less than 10 minutes. I personaly believe that a UGF works great for about a year and then in my past experiences they tend to give out and polute your tank. But if you want one you will need to do weekly deep gravel vacumes as the waste is driven into the gravel by the filtration. Then you have to make sure that there is water movement throughout your entire UGF. When I had the UGF I also had a indise fruval +4 filter and a HOB. Now I have NO UGF and only about an inch or two of gravel and for filtration I added a canister to the mix. I just finished cleaning my tank and there is very little waste that hits the gravel due to the other filters. The tank is cleaner and easier to maintain. So I personaly would avoid the UGF and go with the fruval +2 filter and you can either use gravel or sand, your choice.
 
thanx

thankyou for your fast response guys! i have decided to stick with sand, as i have much more experience with it, and maintenance of the gravel will be more tricky, because the tank is on my best carpet in the lounge!
i like the idea of the gravel, but i am put off with the fuss of the gravel vacuum!
thanx again, giles :)

btw.. what depth of sand do you recomend? i have about 2, 2.5inches in my other 2 tanks.. is this excessive?
 
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