Gravel
- Thread starter BeePike
- Start date
Hey guys,
I'm just starting out with the whole tropical fish scene and I was just wondering if there is any known benefits of having gravel or sand in the bottom of your tank (apart from looks) because it makes it hard to keep the tank clean!
Thanks
After tank is cycled and has matured gravel will become part of your bio-filtration because beneficial bacteria will attach to it also fry will find microscopic treats to feed off.
As for sand it is beneficial for sand sifting fish such as Geophagus species and fish that like to burrow in it like Banjo Catfish lol.
Hello; having tried both gravel and sand my preference is gravel. I like the gravel to be from around bb size up to small pea size.
There are a couple of reasons gravel works best for me. One is that I like rooted live plants and these plants have done better for me in the gravel.
I suspect the plants get better root feeding in the gravel over the sand which packs tighter. May be easier for the roots to penetrate the gaps in the gravel, but the more likely is that there is more movement of the water thru the gravel. This may carry the nutrients into the root zone better.
Another reason being that I still use undergravel filters (UGF) in some of my tanks. Been using them since 1959. I think the gravel works better with them.
On a side note, I joined these fish forums in 2010 and learned that many do not like the UGF. I had set up tanks both with and without UGF. I decided to add the UGF to some of my setups so I can observe any of the faults cited. So far no issues, but it has only been a few years.
One reported issue with sand is potentially serious. That being that sand over an inch deep can develop anaerobic pockets. These anaerobic pockets apparently make good conditions for toxic compounds such as gases to form. Sand needs to be stirred up around once a week or so to break up these pockets.
Other issues with sand include that if the very fine sand particles are not removed, these particles get into filter parts and will chew up impellers. These fine particles also can make the water cloudy with fish activity.
I also do not care for the look of most sand and made this determination before discovering the other issues with it.
There is a way to have sand and avoid the specific issues. First use construction sand which has a variety of particle sizes. Build a screen box sieve and dry sift the sand to remove much of the very fine stuff. Depending on the opening size of the screen box you can sift out sizes you want and have the larger less troublesome sized. Also construction sand is cheap.
Good luck
There are a couple of reasons gravel works best for me. One is that I like rooted live plants and these plants have done better for me in the gravel.
I suspect the plants get better root feeding in the gravel over the sand which packs tighter. May be easier for the roots to penetrate the gaps in the gravel, but the more likely is that there is more movement of the water thru the gravel. This may carry the nutrients into the root zone better.
Another reason being that I still use undergravel filters (UGF) in some of my tanks. Been using them since 1959. I think the gravel works better with them.
On a side note, I joined these fish forums in 2010 and learned that many do not like the UGF. I had set up tanks both with and without UGF. I decided to add the UGF to some of my setups so I can observe any of the faults cited. So far no issues, but it has only been a few years.
One reported issue with sand is potentially serious. That being that sand over an inch deep can develop anaerobic pockets. These anaerobic pockets apparently make good conditions for toxic compounds such as gases to form. Sand needs to be stirred up around once a week or so to break up these pockets.
Other issues with sand include that if the very fine sand particles are not removed, these particles get into filter parts and will chew up impellers. These fine particles also can make the water cloudy with fish activity.
I also do not care for the look of most sand and made this determination before discovering the other issues with it.
There is a way to have sand and avoid the specific issues. First use construction sand which has a variety of particle sizes. Build a screen box sieve and dry sift the sand to remove much of the very fine stuff. Depending on the opening size of the screen box you can sift out sizes you want and have the larger less troublesome sized. Also construction sand is cheap.
Good luck
Ive done both. Gravel that's too big will be hard to aquascape, your fish cant customize their home by moving it around, and filth will be noticeable because the big spaces between stones. Really fine sand will cloud your water and even develop a mucky, stinky layer below its surface over time just like the beach. I like very fine gravel, not quite sand and not quite gravel. stones a little smaller than a pin head.
I've used both over the years and recently started using sand. I've had sand running for about a year now and I love it so far. I like the fact that detritus does not build up and basically become a nitrate Factory, thus being said sand requires more maintenance. It is also harder to grow plants in and can cloud the water when it's stirred up by fish. My fish being mainly Central American love sifting and digging through the sand, I believe it brings out more natural behaviors which are interesting to watch.
Sand is better for many fish. Specifically those with soft barbels such as certain kinds of catfish or fish that sift through or dig in the sand such as earth eaters.
In a high flow tank sand is much less maintenance. Everything blows up off the sand and into the filters. Gravel requires frequent vacuuming.
Sand can get sucked into your impellers potentially causing damage. This is especially true of find sand. It also mucks up fine filtration pads very quickly.
The thing about anaerobic pockets forming in the sand and being harmful is a fishkeeping myth. It takes a fairly deep sandbed for that to occur and even when it does there is no evidence it is harmful to fish.
At the end of the day it is mostly a personal preference thing. I replaced all my gravel with sand over the years. Originally it was because I liked the way it looked and because it was much less work but these days it also because I keep earth eaters.
In a high flow tank sand is much less maintenance. Everything blows up off the sand and into the filters. Gravel requires frequent vacuuming.
Sand can get sucked into your impellers potentially causing damage. This is especially true of find sand. It also mucks up fine filtration pads very quickly.
The thing about anaerobic pockets forming in the sand and being harmful is a fishkeeping myth. It takes a fairly deep sandbed for that to occur and even when it does there is no evidence it is harmful to fish.
At the end of the day it is mostly a personal preference thing. I replaced all my gravel with sand over the years. Originally it was because I liked the way it looked and because it was much less work but these days it also because I keep earth eaters.
It also depends how fine the sand itself is. Sugar fine sand can be a pain which is what I use, I take extra care to protect my impellers on an AquaClear 110 and on my powerhead. I do this by placing a fine sponge over the intake. I also had to adjust my current so that it wouldn't blow the sand around but still agitate the waste without creating miniature tornadoes and pits throughout the tank.
Has there been any confirmed cases of the above happening that resulted in the death of a fish
Read about it on alot webpages but never seen anyone said they experienced it
That is true. I use mostly pool filter sand with a fairly uniform grain size and it takes a lot more to blow it around than the fine stuff.
I don't think I have ever had to vacuum my 200g display tank. Not even once. About the only thing I do is remove the small branches that fall off my wood once in a while.