Gravel vs stability

[Geoey]

Tanks with more gravel tend to be more stable
(same size same filtration all other variables aside
common sense provailing ie not filling tank half way with gravel ect)
True false?

 

[jcardona1]

what do you mean by "stable"?

 

[sostoudt]

Tanks with more gravel tend to be more stable
(same size same filtration all other variables aside
common sense provailing ie not filling tank half way with gravel ect)
True false?

depends, if it needs more surface area do to bioload(value of surface area is debatable).true

the hobbyist is more likely to leave bits of detritus in gravel during gravel vacs due to it haveing more area to vacuum. so false

im taking stable to refer to water parameters

 

[Toby_H]

I've never seen any evidence that a tank with more gravel will be more stable...

I don't know of any scientific detail that would make a tank with more gravel be more stable...


I would suggest that "a tank with more gravel is more stable" is a total myth...


The only result I know of by having more gravel... is the gravel bed will be harder to keep clean and is therefore more likely to contribute to poor water quality...

If that happens... then nitrates incresae, which causes KH to decrease... which can allow a PH crash... thus making it less stable...

 

[Geoey]

does gravel, if cleaned regularily house a heap of benificial bacteria.

 

[sostoudt]

does gravel, if cleaned regularily house a heap of benificial bacteria.

i wouldnt say it makes a huge difference, as the flow through it isnt much so the bacteria wont be as effective as the stuff in the filter. it definitely will house some tho. you could make up for it in filtration media.

personally i think a deep bed will be more detrimental then helpful unless your using under gravel filtration.

 

[JakeH]

Gravel will expand the surface area in the tank greatly, but there is still too much debate to say that gravel is more stable.

 

[bgcoop8784]

as mentioned above, gravel may house beneficial bacteria but also catches more debris, so it's kind of a win/lose situation in my opinion,

 

[Toby_H]

In many years of fishkeeping I've never once seen a system what had a "lack of surface area" be the limiting factor on how much bacteria it housed...

...In every set up I have ever kept or was otherwise personally acquainted with, limited ammonia supply is what limited the quantity of bacteria... including bare bottomed tanks... including tanks without fancy Bio Media...


So the system will have a certain amount of bacteria... that amount will be dictated by the amount of ammonia produced... If there is gravel, it'll live in the gravel... if there is Bio Media, it will live in the Bio Media... If there is nothing but sponges for media and sand for substrate, it will just as happily live there...

 

[Geoey]

thank yoy everyone for your input i am not so sure having more gravel is a good thing like i used to belive.