gravel in your tank

[nastyfish]

hello wonder if you could tell me is it a (MUST) to have gravel in you tank other than for looks? i see some tanks o here some guys refer too as ghetto tanks no decor at all bu the tanks are very clear i like the decor
but would you not compile alot of waste? thanks trying to decide gravel or no gravel? thanks guys

 

[Bderick67]

Gravel, sand, bare bottom, tile, shag carpet all just a matter of personal preference. There are some case where a certain thing is needed, but not that often

 

[Neophyte]

Depending on what your keeping no most do not need gravel, there are benefits to gravel aside from aesthetics such as more surface area for beneficial bacteria to adhere to, if you have enough bio filtration you should be fine.

 

[Juxtaroberto]

Gravel is more of a personal thing, unless you want to keep plants, or if you have an animal that absolutely needs to burrow.

Also, they're there for beneficial bacteria, but if you juice up your filter's biomedia it's fine.

I personally don't use gravel, or any kind of substrate. It makes cleaning easier.

 

[thatone]

No substrate does make it a lot easier for cleaning. With no gravel it makes for less places for waste to get down into making water changes more effective. Your filters will pick up more waste as some of the particles that would normally get trapped in your substrate will make it into your filter instead. You will probably need to rinse your prefilter material in your filter more often. I personally like the look of a substrate and have always used gravel except in my fry tanks.

 

[misterjose23]

gravel is just a hasel to clean. if you're starting a new tank probably you would need gravel or sand or whatever and then once the tank and filters get cycled take it out. i have 2 5lb buckets filled with old old old gravel. i just throw that in a tank to get the cycle started.

 

[djarmstrong]

Gravel, sand, bare bottom, tile, shag carpet all just a matter of personal preference. There are some case where a certain thing is needed, but not that often

Depending on what your keeping no most do not need gravel, there are benefits to gravel aside from aesthetics such as more surface area for beneficial bacteria to adhere to, if you have enough bio filtration you should be fine.

Gravel is more of a personal thing, unless you want to keep plants, or if you have an animal that absolutely needs to burrow.

Also, they're there for beneficial bacteria, but if you juice up your filter's biomedia it's fine.

 

[djarmstrong]

Double post , sorry .

 

[fishyjoe26]

juvie discus = no gravel. so much easier to clean the tank, and feed the discus.