Sand or Gravel

I'm not planning on cleaning the bottom of my tank every again! heheheh!!!

Fecal matter on top of good nutrient substrate (on top of sandy gravel bed).

The idea is a substrate so rich in nutrient that my plants will love it, and the CO2 that will be going in.

Am I on target? Or is there going to still be a need to vacuum the bottom from time to time (even after the substrate on top of all the previously described layers is in place with plants???)
 
I, myself, was debating for a long time and decided on sand. I bought filter pool sand from a local pool supply store ($10 for 50lbs) and it looks great! It is much whiter than play sand. Rinsing and filling it though... what a pain, but totally worth it! :)

I have Black Ghost Knife fish and 3 black Elephant Noses - they make an amazing contrast! I did put lots of dark rock with caves though to make them feel better - their "thing" is to hide and camouflage. :rolleyes:

I did burry some plants in the sand (without any base of nutrients) and now concerned for their survival. Is it absolutely necessary to add something or will some hardy plants make it? I have crypts right now.. :huh: Thanks!!
 
I switched from gravel to play sand in my 10 gallon about a month and a half ago and I loved it for the first 2 weeks. After that, the water turned cloudy and has been cloudy ever since. I rinsed the sand thoroughly, even after the water was running clear I continued to rinse it until I thought it was clean enough to put in the tank...it wasn't...also, it compacted much quicker than I expected it to. I would stir the sand and within a couple days I'd notice pockets forming in the sand again.

I just switched back to gravel tonight and my tank looks better already. And my betta seems to prefer the dark gravel over the bright white sand. His coloration looks 10 times better too!

I was going to do sand in my 30 that I'm planning and the reason I put sand in the 10 was to test it out to see if I actually liked it before putting it in a larger tank...yeah, definitly NOT going to do that. I'll just stick with trusty ol' gravel from now on...
 
A suggestion for the new 30.
Along with the yo-yo's, maybe 5-6 barbs, or a couple rainbows.
I've got 7 barbs (2 x tiger, 2x green tiger, 3 x black ruby) 3 neons, and a couple aus. rainbows in a 29g and they do great. The barbs add a little color and activity to the tank.

Oh and for what it's worth, I think that gravel is the better choice.
 
Thanks for the suggestion. Not a big fan of barbs, but its not just my tank, its the beau's tank too :rolleyes: so I'll run the barb idea past him and see what he says. I don't think he'll care either way because he's getting his YoYo's and thats all he really cares about lol.

BTW, I 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th what you said about gravel being the better choice. IME it is...
 
Yeah, I was never really into the barb thing either. Also thought they were a bunch of fin nipping little bas...monsters, yeah that's it, monsters, until I got them in pretty much their own little tank.
The tigers and green tigers are ......well......tigers and green tigers.
I got them along with a 55 I just bought, and just kept them. Then I went to the LFS and saw these black rubys, and WOW, these are really cool looking little fish. I bought 3. 1 female and 2 males.
I'm actually starting to watch this tank more than the 55, the other 29, or the 125. How does THAT make sense :huh: ?
 
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