Gravel, sand or nothing?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Manda said:
I got a 125 with 2 albino oscars, 1 tiger Oscar, 1 4 line Pim, shovelnose catfish, 3 dempseys, 1 jewel, figure 8 puffer, spotted pictus catfish, huge silver dollar and 2 plecos. Then I have a 55 gallon with 3 red belly pirahnas, and 8 bucktooth tetras with 2 black snails. Then I have a 20 gallon with 2 irridesent sharks, bala shark, a red tail shark and a pleco. And last but not least a 10 gallon with a breeding pair of black convicts. Woo my thumbs are stiff now. Lol.



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If your tanks have seeded bio media in ur filters then ur substrate will not cause a bb crash if its removed! Easiest way for me: use ur biggest square net and scoop up all gravel then dump in bucket and repeat! Took me less then 5 min in a old 55. If you do ur piranha tank go slow as not to freak them out, personally i wouldnt put sand in my rbp tank cuz they stir it up to high hell, i cant even have plant, tried everyway to attatch them and in days there always ripped up and stuck in my strainer so i find gravel easiet for them but less active fish sand would be sweet! gl

#1 S. Vettel
 
m1ste2tea said:
from my personal experience, unless your fish really need the substate, go with nothing, a bare bottom tank. Its just so much easier to clean and maintain. You'll have more time to enjoy your fish and not fuss about the water quality.
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I was thinking about that but I wasn't sure. Do u decorate or can I just use driftwood.

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In my biggest bare bottom tank I have driftwood attached to flat slate rocks so that I can easily clean around it and none of the poop gets trapped under the decorations, In my other, smaller barebottom tanks I have store bought decorations which already have a flat bottom surface such as caves and plastic plants that have rock/resin bases.

speaking of slate, I used to have pieces of slate on the bottom of one of my tanks like a jigsaw puzzle you can do that if you really want to avoid the look of a barebottom tank.
 
I might do that with my 125. That thing can be a pain in the ass because the hubby thinks that 3 inches of gravel is great.

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Use whatever you like visually . I like sand in all my tanks . I first used play sand from lowes it was like 3$ for 50lbs , then I switched to black sand for one tank and plant substrate for the other . I have never had a problem with my piranhas stirring it up . It was cloudy for a day or two then it settled down . I had 15 piranhas and caribe in one tank and now a 11 or 12 in rhom . They never stir it up and all the crap and debris stays on top and just hover the gravel vac over it
 
Yea we decided today to take out all and go bare for now see how we like it in both the 55 and the 125. I didn't realize how much the gravel covers all the crap that sinks down. It's crazy.

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I originally bought pool filter sand for my tank, But it didn't look natural enough for me. So I bought some river sand from a pet store. It was pretty pricey but was worth it in the end. Sand looks the best to me personally and I'm sure other people will agree, As for cleaning just hover your gravel vacuum over the top of the sand.
 
Here I come to be the devil's advocate. I've had both sand, and gravel in a piranha tank. Play sand tends to get stagnant if they're not churning it up, I've heard it can trap toxic gas bubbles, and come back to bite you later. I've used gravel to the best effect. I hate bare bottom, because you have all that crap in plain sight. I'd rather have to siphon gravel than have it sit there and taunt me! lol Of course, I was teased for having my rbp on hot pink gravel, but boy did he have some color for a little guy! ^_~
 
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