Sand or gravel?

Batmanjay28

Batmanjay28

AC Members
Aug 22, 2006
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Oregon
Right now in my 29G tank I have about 2 inches of gravel. My tank is completely cycled and has fish in it. I have 4 corys in the tank and heard that it's better to have sand in the tank to protect their mouths. So should I take out all the gravel and put in about 2 inches of sand, or just leave the gravel in the tank. And if I do change out the gravel won't I lose a lot of good bacteria on my gravel. Won't that be a problem?
 
Most of the good bacteria grows on filter media, decor and substrate, the best being filters.

They will be fine with gravel but would be happier with sand, but certainly not necessary in my opinon.

So long as you keep your filter media and don't wash your decor, you'll have plenty of good bacteria left.

Up to you whether to switch or not, the fish will be fine.
 
If the tank is already up and running I wouldn't touch it. I do prefer the look of sand though.
 
The only thing I would suggest is to just leave it be but hey, it's your tank, do what you want. Just make sure you know the cons of having sand over gravel and the hassle of changing it all over.
 
you might have a mini cycle. i had plants in my tank and never saw anything. i switched from sand to gravel a few months ago. just wanted a change of looks. its up to you what you want to do. what i did was take the fish out then take the sand out and put the gravel in. did it all at once. the only thing i note is if your using sand make sure to wash it really well before adding it to your tank.
 
You could mix the two, I have seen pics of tanks that have both. They look very nice.I am useing both in my 50 and the corys love it.:)
 
I use to use sand, I think I prefer it over the flourite I'm using now. It was no good for the plants.. well, I thought at the time.. now I know better

here are a couple of pictures:

First one is when the tank's sand was new..:
http://img518.imageshack.us/my.php?image=tankyf4.jpg

Then a couple later with added gravel to help the plants.. from different perspectives.
http://img518.imageshack.us/my.php?image=picture020py5.jpg
and
http://img518.imageshack.us/my.php?image=picture0071bu1.jpg

Just so you know, when I had one tank with gravel and one with sand the Corys wouldn't go to the gravel side, at all. Sand also adds some cool possibilities for certain species of fish. I had a Banjo Cat that would burrow in the sand and some freshwater flounders that would completely disapear under the sand, they loved the stuff.

edit: In the second pick there is some sand mixed with the gravel and in the third it is almost completely gone.. the filter will, over time, suck up the sand.. but it takes a while to notice any difference.

Also notice the discoloration deeper into the sand bed, some have said the bacteria that causes it release toxic gasses that can hurt your fish. I never had any trouble though
 
Last edited:
ErrorS said:
I use to use sand, I think I prefer it over the flourite I'm using now. It was no good for the plants.. well, I thought at the time.. now I know better

here are a couple of pictures:

First one is when the tank's sand was new..:
http://img518.imageshack.us/my.php?image=tankyf4.jpg

Then a couple later with added gravel to help the plants.. from different perspectives.
http://img518.imageshack.us/my.php?image=picture020py5.jpg
and
http://img518.imageshack.us/my.php?image=picture0071bu1.jpg

Just so you know, when I had one tank with gravel and one with sand the Corys wouldn't go to the gravel side, at all. Sand also adds some cool possibilities for certain species of fish. I had a Banjo Cat that would burrow in the sand and some freshwater flounders that would completely disapear under the sand, they loved the stuff.

edit: In the second pick there is some sand mixed with the gravel and in the third it is almost completely gone.. the filter will, over time, suck up the sand.. but it takes a while to notice any difference.

Also notice the discoloration deeper into the sand bed, some have said the bacteria that causes it release toxic gasses that can hurt your fish. I never had any trouble though
Click to expand...



So how would I go about adding sand to my tank? Would I just take out all the gravel and add the sand?
 
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