How much gravel for 55 long?

[terd ferguson]

Approximately how many pounds of gravel will I need for my newly aquired 55 long (48"x13" footprint)?

And for a money saving tip, your local Lowes hardwear store has 40 pound bags of river pebbles/gravel for under $3 a bag. They have different sizes and types for pretty cheap. My LFS is WAY more expensive for basically the same stuff.

And thanks in advance for any help and thanks for this great forum.

 

[gomezladdams]

General rule of thumb1 pound gravel/gallon of tank size,a little more if you want a deeper look.Ive used the river pebbles and they look good in the tanks.Get 2 bags,use 1 then keep adding till it looks right to you.Rinse it well,its usually pretty dirty

 

[terd ferguson]

General rule of thumb1 pound gravel/gallon of tank size,a little more if you want a deeper look.Ive used the river pebbles and they look good in the tanks.Get 2 bags,use 1 then keep adding till it looks right to you.Rinse it well,its usually pretty dirty

Thanks.

 

[ShadowBass]

That's up to you. Most of my tanks are barebottom now, gravel isn't necessary per se.

My 125g african tank only has a big enough layer of sand to pad the bottom of the tank from all the rocks.

My 10g, the only other fw tank I have with substrate right now, only has just over a 1/4 inch of gravel.

I use fake weighted plants though, so I don't even need substrate. If the bases (which don't look that bad to me *shrug*) need to be hidden I just stick the plants behind driftwood and stuff and you can't see them.

If you wanna do plants that have to be held down by substrate you'll need a lot more gravel, if you want to do real plants you'll need enough for at least 2 inches.

In my 55g, when it had substrate, I only had 30 lbs and it was plenty to keep all the plants anchored and stuff. 55lbs is a lot, it depends on how deep you want it, but if you're not doing real plants shallower is better because it will be easier to siphon. If you're using an UGF you should use as much substrate as is recommended in the directions.

 

[terd ferguson]

That's up to you. Most of my tanks are barebottom now, gravel isn't necessary per se.

My 125g african tank only has a big enough layer of sand to pad the bottom of the tank from all the rocks.

My 10g, the only other fw tank I have with substrate right now, only has just over a 1/4 inch of gravel.

I use fake weighted plants though, so I don't even need substrate. If the bases (which don't look that bad to me *shrug*) need to be hidden I just stick the plants behind driftwood and stuff and you can't see them.

If you wanna do plants that have to be held down by substrate you'll need a lot more gravel, if you want to do real plants you'll need enough for at least 2 inches.

In my 55g, when it had substrate, I only had 30 lbs and it was plenty to keep all the plants anchored and stuff. 55lbs is a lot, it depends on how deep you want it, but if you're not doing real plants shallower is better because it will be easier to siphon. If you're using an UGF you should use as much substrate as is recommended in the directions.

Thanks. And I'm sorry, I should've been more specific. I will be adding many live plants and this will probably be an African cichlid tank. But, in any case, it sounds like 40 to 50 pounds will be enough.

As an aside, I like the look of sand, but have never used it and am not sure as to the messiness of it during water changes and/or cleaning. Does it need to be vacuumed like gravel? Is it easy to anchor plants in it (cichlids like to dig)?

Any and all advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks again.

 

[ShadowBass]

What kind of plants? African cichlids are generally terrible inhabitants for a planted tank, lol.
Especially mbunas. Mbunas are algae/plant eaters and they'll likely destroy your plants over time, no matter how well the plants are rooted.

Yes, sand does have to be siphoned just like gravel if you're keeping africans. I have a 125g african tank with sand and they like to dig and all the detritus gets mixed into the sand. If you have non-digging fish then only the top generally has to be siphoned because all the waste will stay on top.
Use a long siphon tube and you won't end up losing enough sand to make a dent.
Yeah, it is easy to anchor plants in if it's deep enough, but it's not necessarily recommended for rooted plants because it doesn't hold nutrients well and doesn't contain any nutrients right off the bat. Eco-complete and other plant substrates are the best option, but river gravel is fine you'll just have to add nutrients in yourself probably. I had a 90g planted tank with normal gravel and the plants did just fine.

If you are doing live plants, then yes you will want 50-55 lbs of gravel to anchor them properly. You'll want it at least 2 inches deep.

 

[terd ferguson]

What kind of plants? African cichlids are generally terrible inhabitants for a planted tank, lol.
Especially mbunas. Mbunas are algae/plant eaters and they'll likely destroy your plants over time, no matter how well the plants are rooted.

Yes, sand does have to be siphoned just like gravel if you're keeping africans. I have a 125g african tank with sand and they like to dig and all the detritus gets mixed into the sand. If you have non-digging fish then only the top generally has to be siphoned because all the waste will stay on top.
Use a long siphon tube and you won't end up losing enough sand to make a dent.
Yeah, it is easy to anchor plants in if it's deep enough, but it's not necessarily recommended for rooted plants because it doesn't hold nutrients well and doesn't contain any nutrients right off the bat. Eco-complete and other plant substrates are the best option, but river gravel is fine you'll just have to add nutrients in yourself probably. I had a 90g planted tank with normal gravel and the plants did just fine.

If you are doing live plants, then yes you will want 50-55 lbs of gravel to anchor them properly. You'll want it at least 2 inches deep.

I have a 54 gallon corner tank with many mbunas. I have found a plant they don't eat that has a real vibrant green color that I like a lot. I plan to harvest some of these (and buy a couple more) to go in the new 55. I don't know the name of the plant though (sorry).

As much as I like the look of sand, I'll probably end up going with the gravel for a couple of reasons. 1. cost. 2. ease of cleaning.

Thanks again for the info.

 

[ThePBM]

forget the stupid lb/gallon rule. high tanks, long tanks, breeders, could have the same gal but totally diff footprints.

i go with 1lb for every 40sq in, and that will give you gravel up to just over the bottom trim line (on standard glass tanks). you could double that figure and go with 1lb for every 20sq in if you like a lot of gravel.

try 30 lbs of gravel. but since you said bags are 40lbs, might as well. the height of the substrate depends somewhat on gravel size, since 40lbs of sand is much more compact than 40lbs of large gravel, obviously.

 

[terd ferguson]

forget the stupid lb/gallon rule. high tanks, long tanks, breeders, could have the same gal but totally diff footprints.

i go with 1lb for every 40sq in, and that will give you gravel up to just over the bottom trim line (on standard glass tanks). you could double that figure and go with 1lb for every 20sq in if you like a lot of gravel.

try 30 lbs of gravel. but since you said bags are 40lbs, might as well. the height of the substrate depends somewhat on gravel size, since 40lbs of sand is much more compact than 40lbs of large gravel, obviously.

That makes more sense. Thanks.

 

[ShadowBass]

I agree, I thought you were talking about a standard 55g.

Get enough to do about 2 inches and if the plants won't anchor properly do a little more.

If you figure out the name of the plant I'd be interested to know

Yes, gravel is easier to maintain than sand, at least for me. I just like the look of sand so I left it in that one tank, but there's a reason all my other freshwater tanks except my 10g are barebottom lol.