gravel ?

[john C]

my rays are on sand i know they are happy with it, but i am not. i find sand in my filters and i have got sand under mag-float and scratched the glass of my tank. when i use my python i have to drain the water out side because i end up taking up a little bit of sand. i have kept rays on fine gravel but they will not bury into the gravel. it seems the gravel cleans a lot nicer with a gravel vac. what about finding a true non silica sand. i have not found a sand That says weather i is or is not. i also have concern for anaerobic development with sand, thats why i try to do water changes twice a week. i also see a lot of pictures of fresh water rays with a gravel substrate, even Barron's freshwater stingrays book. just another sting ray geek.

a penny for your thoughts​

 

[Big Daves Rays]

I used to use Este's black sand which is nice, but I had the same problem. I had to siphon out my overflows all the time to get the sand out and it was everywhere. I switched to a small/medium sized smooth gravel substrate. My rays are bigger so they can bury theirselves just fine and I bought it direct from the supplier here in WA for 13.00 per 50 lbs. Way cheaper than Este's sand and cleaner for the fishes. Thats my 2 cents.

 

[Alex.P]

I love sand and so do my rays. I don't have any problems with it.
Alex

 

[john C]

big dave how big are the rays i have had 8" rays in gravel about the size of a bb and they might bury a little but definitly nothing like sand

 

[TipStylez]

If sand is in your filter and scratching your tank, your setup is wrong.

I never have a problem or find sand in my filters or in my powerheads.

I have a fluval 305 sitting 1" above my sand, and never find a crazy amount inside my fluval. Also a fluval 204 hooked up to a 40" spray bar that sits 1" above the sand bed to blow all the waste and dirt back up to where my 204 intake is near the surface, anything that dosnt get blown up, will get picked up by the lower intake of the 305. Anything else will just get blown up by my powerhead hooked up to a 10" spray bar. So i have spraybars covering the whole bed to keep it nice and clean.

My cats, polys and bass kicks up a sand storm when they dart and race for food, so i do get a lil sand in my filters but nothing to clog them. The most sand i ever found was less then half a tsp settled on the bottom of my fluval.

And you shouldnt be too woried about anaerobic development. It wont build up that fast if your cleaning your tank right.

And you should NEVER gravel vac sand, that will just blow and suck up sand. Your suppose to HOVER above the sand to pick up the waste ect. Then once in awhile, stir the sand with a stick or your hands if you dont mind getting wet.

And to clean the glass, i use a magfloat and i stay about 1inch above the sand, and the lower portion, i use a scraper.

If you want to know more about the spraybars, i have it posted somewhere in the DIY section, that should help you alot with keeping the sand bed clean if done right.

 

[Brent]

use smaller gravel like this

 

[Alex.P]

Have you had any luck with Leo pups yet. She has been dragging on for quite a while now.
Alex

 

[Nic]

I keep it really simple and for my rays I stay bare bottom wanted to do sand but gave up on the idea

 

[CORVETTE]

I ve used small pea gravel with my some of my rays down to 6" and they have no problem burrying them selfs in it. Flat glass is easyier to clean but i don't find it as apealing to look at and the rays feel comfortable being able to hide.

 

[T1KARMANN]

i use a very small fine pebble gravel my rays have just bred on it so they must like it

the more i think about it alot of people who have bred rays have gravel not sand

like this