Bare Bottom or gravel

[Nova 8]

I am currently taking all the gravel out of my 220 right now, if I like the look more then I did in the 55 I will keep it that way. Just waiting for a mate to gethere to help pull out a rock that weights about 50kg. I think I will end up with black gravel 2mm-3mm big and about 1/2" to 1" deep going front to back.

 

[MarlboroMan]

I prefer a tank with substrate. To me, it seems the fish feel more comfortable, and it looks better.

My friend has used pool filter sand for many years, and he doesn't even rinse it. None of the fish got sick or anything, but made the tank milky looking for a few days. He added a thick layer in a 40 gallon, about 4 inches. It was fine for a few years, until he moved out of state.

 

[ThePBM]

bare bottom i would think makes your place look like a restaurant.

 

[cenecker]

Its a matter of water quality versus apperence IMO. I think bare-bottom tanks look like crap personally. My compromise - Keep the gravel (or sand) REALLY thin (like half an inch). That way you can easily suck ALL the crap out of it.

 

[T1KARMANN]

Its a matter of water quality versus apperence IMO. I think bare-bottom tanks look like crap personally. My compromise - Keep the gravel (or sand) REALLY thin (like half an inch). That way you can easily suck ALL the crap out of it.

thats what im talking about

their is no reason to have bad water compaired to someone who has bare bottom

 

[oscarboy5556]

yes yes that friend is me and now it is beautiful. u should take them out of the water and put them into a bucket or something depending on ur last water change. after your filter has sucked up most of the dirt or u removed it with ur net u can put them back in. i can finally see the beautiful spots on my pbass and i can see my polypteris. and i also put my massive tinfoil barbs so they r happy also.

 

[alibaloochi]

i prefer sand, it looks wonderful with white sand and white rocks, almost looks SW.

 

[Mattyou]

I buy Pea Gravel from the hardware store. Put it in a 5 gallon bucket with holes punched in the bottom and rinse the crap out of it. Its 3-4 dollars a bag and 1 bag will do a 48 x 18 bottom tank no problem. You can pick the size gravel you want as well, I like mine a little chunky.

 

[DasArab]

Id try sand, i dont use anything else. I once tried a barebottomed tank and found I spent more time cleaning crud from the bottom of the tank than actually admiring the tank.

 

[pacu mom]

We went BB for easy maintenance. With extreme mechanical filtration and two plumbed uptakes just off the floor (poop suckers), there has been nothing to vacuum out of our tank in the two years the tank has been running. Feces and debris scuttle across the floor and are quickly removed from the tank. In the small 55 g tank our fish were rescued in, we spent hours vacuuming out feces and doing massive water changes (60 - 100%) every day, just to keep the water parameters safe for our fish. We absolutely did not want to do that kind of maintenance on our big tank. Our tank is BB and undecorated, but our fish are healthy and thriving. Our fish are decoration enough for us. Besides no vacuuming, water changes are super easy--valves are opened/closed and the faucet is turn on/off. We now get to keep and enjoy our fish and expend minimal effort in maintaining their tank.