Gravel vs Sand

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Your intake tube looks high enough so it shouldn't be a problem with sand being sucked up. When I used to use play sand in my tanks it ruined my emperor propellers and clogged my aqueon filters. Now I switched then all out and use petco's sand. I also raised the intake tubes higher for my canisters now.
 
Awesome. Yes the sand looks amazing and the water is looking a lot clearer today. Should be good in another day or so.

Really love the look of the sand, wish I switched earlier!!
 
sand looks nice. i used to have sand but switched to multicolor slates tiles for ease of cleaning.
 
Quick update. Bought a few more bags of pfs. I have 80 lbs in total now in the tank (30 gallon). I really like the flexibility it gives me to creates mounds and waves and different landscapes in the tank with that much sand. My question, is there any risks having 4" of sand vs 2"? I know I need to stir it once in awhile to prevent gas pockets from forming. Any reason why this is too much sand?

See pics attached. The right side of the tank has the most sand. I made a bit of a sloping hill there.

Thanks!

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As long as you dont have "heavy diggers" like myself (Reddevil/Midevils)and you use prefilters you should be fine. I have actually SEEN my devils/Midas/Bleekeri take sand & gravel straight to the intake of a filter they don't particularly seem to "like" and spit it RIGHT IN THE INTAKE!!!

Some fish are just EVIL!!! My fix (before I switched back to gravel 2 years ago) was prefilters, and even with gravel I still use prefilters on all my intakes as gravel can also make it to the impeller sometimes.

My fish STILL have a habit of piling gravel on top of the prefilters(even my Geophagus Brassilianis) to this day! They are honestly trying to WRECK my filters.

Heck, they even sometimes bite chunks out of the prefilter sponges, or pull them off (my 8' black diamond/bleekeri is the WORST) no matter whether reticulated foam or fine foam. Ughhhh, sometimes this dang hobby...LOL
 
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nossalucard said:
As long as you dont have "heavy diggers" like myself (Reddevil/Midevils)and you use prefilters you should be fine. I have actually SEEN my devils/Midas/Bleekeri take sand & gravel straight to the intake of a filter they don't particularly seem to "like" and spit it RIGHT IN THE INTAKE!!!

Some fish are just EVIL!!! My fix (before I switched back to gravel 2 years ago) was prefilters, and even with gravel I still use prefilters on all my intakes as gravel can also make it to the impeller sometimes.

My fish STILL have a habit of piling gravel on top of the prefilters(even my Geophagus Brassilianis) to this day! They are honestly trying to WRECK my filters.

Heck, they even sometimes bite chunks out of the prefilter sponges, or pull them off (my 8' black diamond/bleekeri is the WORST) no matter whether reticulated foam or fine foam. Ughhhh, sometimes this dang hobby...LOL
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Hahaha that all made me laugh. Little buggers eh hahaha. Too funny.

No this tank will just be a regular ole community tank. Just tetras barbs and some cories an a red tail shark. I was just worried the depth was too much for one reason or another. Thanks for the input!
 
Hello; Having used both sand and gravel I have gone entirely to gravel. I like a darker substrate and tend to planted tanks. The gravel used is from around bb to small pea sized. None of the issues as with sand. I find the larger particle size to be more suitable for planted aquarium use.

That said there is a way to have sand with few issues. I have found that sand has one key advantage, it can be cheap. Construction sand in bulk does not cost much. I dry sift this sand thru a screen. This way the fine dust and very small particles is removed. Of the particles left, the size can be controled by the screen used.
 
I stopped using gravel decades ago, plants grow better in sand, food stays on top of sand and most fish are naturally used to sand. Lots of fish are in better health on sad, they blow it through their gills, eat it, burrow in it!
 
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