gravel question

[mikeymikee]

so my tank has no gravel in it with 2 red tails and 2 oscars (babys) in a 55 gallon... im so bored with it i wanna put gravel and plants in...but i kn owhen i buy gravel i have to clean it rele good but wont puttin gavel in a tank mess up my good bacteria and giv me bacteria bloom?

and what is the best substrat? sand or gravel?

 

[scriving]

sand is cleaner Imo you are going to need to rinse it very well but it will not mess up your bacteria since most of that is going to be held in your filter media as for the fish you are going to need a much bigger tank if you are talking about red tailed catfish

 

[knifegill]

2 red tails and 2 oscars (babys) in a 55 gallon

Again?

 

[Loves severums]

sand

 

[mikeymikee]

yes yes i knoo...i alredi had 2 other hybrid rtc that grew in a year over a foot their in my uncles pond now...

 

[mikeymikee]

so buy the sand at the store...rince and clean really good and put it into my tank? souds good?

 

[|JoJo|]

Ya, you can get pool filter sand really cheap. Even if you move the rtc's to a pond your tank is going to have problems when the oscars get bigger.

 

[Conor1148]

how big are the "babies"?

my oscar is like 3 inches and is busting out of my 20g. they grow fast, get them somewhere bigger before theyre stunted and screwed in the long run.

remember, you'll need a prefilter if you use a HOB filter with sand. and regularly you'll have to run your fingers or something through it to let the bacteria and stuff out before it gets deadly.


im using gravel right now, never done sand... yet.

 

[boldtogether]

Sand. Or gravel. Or just about anything you want, as long as it wont harm the fish(broken glass,etc.). I would recommend gravel not to big, or sand not to fine. Darker in either will "brighten" the fish and give an overall calming in the tank.

Just my 2¢

 

[B.Ho]

Careful when putting the sand in, don't put it all in at once or your water is going to get really cloudy. Put in like a cup full a day