how bad is gravel

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
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reptileguy2727

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Dec 12, 2005
850
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Northern Virginia
i know this may be repetitive, and i have read through sticky posts on this and other forums. but how bad would gravel really be? i have a 150 that i plan on putting a pair of reticulatus in, and right now there is at least 200 pounds of averaged sized aquarium gravel (estes' shallow creek regular if that helps) and i need to decide whether to clean it all out (there was a bad breakout of disease in the tank so i at least have to rinse it all) or just dump it and go with sand or new gravel. for filtration i plan on having a fluval FX5 at the minimum, may add on relatively smaller canisters just for the heck of it since i alreayd have them. i know they cant eat small stuff on gravel easily, but i could use a food dish for that. i just need to know whether this would really be an issue at all or if its just not ideal. if i go with sand i heard estes' plain white marine sand is good, is this true?
 
I woulden't chance it, go with sand or bare bottom. I use caribbean tahitian moon sand, its black, settles very fast and look great. Anything that is sharp at all will cut up your rays bottom leading to infection and worse. The sand i use comes in a 20 pound bag and is 16.00 a bag, i only use 3 bags in my 180 and it is plenty for me , i dont like it real thick anyways because i dont want gasses to build up in the sand bed and have to remember to stir it. If you dont want to spend the money on something like i have go to a pool or spa joint and get ( NON SILICA ) sand, you can get enough to do your tank for under 10 bucks and it will still look good, i just like the black stuff. Rays like to bury themselves in the sand, sift through it looking for food, and it is a natural bottom for them, if your going to go with rays i would do it the right way if i were you. One other thing i would say is if you can afford it get a good air pump and a bubble wand, my ray hovers over the bubbles and plays in them for hours a day.....:)
 
what is the brand name of the sand you use? thank you very much.
 
i checked at work today and i wont be able to get the caribsea tahitian moon sand in. what about estes' marine sand? i heard its great for rays and comes in many colors. i could get that in this week with everything else.
 
I would definitely go with the sand.
 
okay, i have defnitely decided to go with sand, now im just trying to figure out which one.
 
Just pick a color that you like. My favorites are white, brown, salt and pepper (dougefresh's 75), and reddish, I maybe be switching over to 1/2 sand soon so lets see how that works.
 
really any gravel or sand is a breeding ground for bad news, however with good tank maintance i have never had any problems ... the only time i use a bare bottom tank is in all my Discus tanks and even then only in the breeding tanks.... one of my favorite sands is Black Beach Sand .. from Natures Oceans , i use it in all my reefs looks great and could be used in a fresh tank depending on the fish being kept
 
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