Gravel v Sand what are pros and cons

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Sand is such a shorter word but the best products are usually the simplest and smallest. My one tank is an old salt water tank the the sand is nice.

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paulW said:
Sand can go anaerbic on you.. Thus it needs to be stirred up to avoid getting anaerobic bubbles under it.

You still need to vacuum it (unless I am missing something) because the fish will still poop and that needs to be removed. When vacing it, you will suck up some of the sand (not a huge deal).

I did sand for a few years.. On a large tank, I didn't feel like it was worth the trouble.. Stirring it up every week is more difficult than occasionally doing a gravel vac in my opinion, especially if you have a lot of rock work.
I prefer gravel.. I get Red Flint gravel from a local rock place.. they sell it by the ton.. so it's unbelievably inexpensive, even on a large tank. Many public aquariums use Red Flint.

Anyhow, I do large water changes (I have a drain on my tank, so it's fast and no syphoning).. About every 2-3 months, I pull all the rocks and do a monster gravel cleaning.. That system works well for me.
I guess if I was syphoning weekly, sand would be less of a disadvantage.
Click to expand...


If you have good enough mechanical filtration you don't need to vac, Atleast I don't, fx5+huge sponge filter+ 1200gph circulator= no vac ever, only thing I have to do are wc and now that I have pothos its only half of what it used to be

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http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?504763-Cheap-plants-less-nitrate!-POTHOS

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paulW said:
Sand can go anaerbic on you.. Thus it needs to be stirred up to avoid getting anaerobic bubbles under it.

You still need to vacuum it (unless I am missing something) because the fish will still poop and that needs to be removed. When vacing it, you will suck up some of the sand (not a huge deal).

I did sand for a few years.. On a large tank, I didn't feel like it was worth the trouble.. Stirring it up every week is more difficult than occasionally doing a gravel vac in my opinion, especially if you have a lot of rock work.
I prefer gravel.. I get Red Flint gravel from a local rock place.. they sell it by the ton.. so it's unbelievably inexpensive, even on a large tank. Many public aquariums use Red Flint.

Anyhow, I do large water changes (I have a drain on my tank, so it's fast and no syphoning).. About every 2-3 months, I pull all the rocks and do a monster gravel cleaning.. That system works well for me.
I guess if I was syphoning weekly, sand would be less of a disadvantage.
Click to expand...
never have this problem i have enough circulation/filtration and my fish also dig and stir the sand a little
 
paulW said:
Sand can go anaerbic on you.. Thus it needs to be stirred up to avoid getting anaerobic bubbles under it.

You still need to vacuum it (unless I am missing something) because the fish will still poop and that needs to be removed. When vacing it, you will suck up some of the sand (not a huge deal).

I did sand for a few years.. On a large tank, I didn't feel like it was worth the trouble.. Stirring it up every week is more difficult than occasionally doing a gravel vac in my opinion, especially if you have a lot of rock work.
I prefer gravel.. I get Red Flint gravel from a local rock place.. they sell it by the ton.. so it's unbelievably inexpensive, even on a large tank. Many public aquariums use Red Flint.

Anyhow, I do large water changes (I have a drain on my tank, so it's fast and no syphoning).. About every 2-3 months, I pull all the rocks and do a monster gravel cleaning.. That system works well for me.
I guess if I was syphoning weekly, sand would be less of a disadvantage.
Click to expand...

I still do siphon the tank regularly but I find it easier than gravel. Since I got a lot of flow most of the poop stays suspended in the water column and gets sucked by my overflow or filter. The stuff that stays behind hangs out on top of the sand. I do not stir up the sand but I do have a lot of Malaysian trumpet snails that burrow into the sand.
 
I have gravel in my 210g and it always "looks" clean because all the waste settle in between the rocks. But the gravel vac does not lie. In my 56g column I used a larger grain gravel and the poop just sits on the top so it tends to look dirty.

For looks I like my tank with the sand better.
 
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