Marbles as substrate??

[toejam]

Since you are going with a "natural " look, litter and all I would think that marbles would not fit the theme. I also agree that fish waste would settle in the spaces between the marbles and both be unsightly and require more upkeep not less. A moss bed might work and could partially hide some of the searchable items

I think you may have hit upon a major item - the theme is "Natural", and the lake does not have a natural bed of marbles. Sometimes you have to start discussing things in the open to realize you need to dope-slap yourself and say "what was I thinking."

OK, my original premise was that the coral substrate adds a burden on cleaning - not so much during the season, but, at the end of the season, we really try to get the substrate clean before we put it away for the winter. All those hollow shells are pockets for dirt/mold/algae/whatever and we spend about 2 weeks trying to get them clean and dry. The marbles concept was to get the end of season cleaning streamlined. There may be a better substrate option that is aesthetically pleasing and has minimal clean-up at the end of the season.

I'm not familiar with the moss bed concept - is that a live plant scenario? Would it be feasible for a 4 month aquarium lifespan each year?

 

[duanes]

The substrate I use is sand (preferably pool filter sand)
Waste doesn't work its way in, because the interstitial space are tight, so a 5 minute vacuum of the sand surface, is all that's normally needed.
And because its usually close to natural color, waste isn't an obvious eyesore.
Because PFS is made to be backwashed (heavier than play sand or the like), a siphon usually just picks up waste leaving the PFS in place.

 

[C. Breeze]

My horse is so low I can’t even see to the top of the tank to tell if it’s full.
Marble is aquarium safe.

Marbles are also aquarium safe- though not all aquarium occupants can be trusted or considered safe around them. Marbles won’t really make end of season cleanup easier there will be an inch of crud all around the marbles.

Sand is low maintenance, tile is low maintenance.


Have fun at the lake. It’s getting hot and I’m headed to the lake soon too.

 

[fishdance]

Don't use marbles, decorate with old shoes, plastic cups, disposable cutlery, wet tissues, fishing tackle, lost jewellery etc. Whatever trash people dump into the lake. Would be good to use actual items retrieved. Most fish will settle in and use as natural cover.

It can be an educational display as well as an eye opener.

 

[celebrist]

I think you may have hit upon a major item - the theme is "Natural", and the lake does not have a natural bed of marbles. Sometimes you have to start discussing things in the open to realize you need to dope-slap yourself and say "what was I thinking."

OK, my original premise was that the coral substrate adds a burden on cleaning - not so much during the season, but, at the end of the season, we really try to get the substrate clean before we put it away for the winter. All those hollow shells are pockets for dirt/mold/algae/whatever and we spend about 2 weeks trying to get them clean and dry. The marbles concept was to get the end of season cleaning streamlined. There may be a better substrate option that is aesthetically pleasing and has minimal clean-up at the end of the season.

I'm not familiar with the moss bed concept - is that a live plant scenario? Would it be feasible for a 4 month aquarium lifespan each year?

I guess that it depends on what you have growing in your lake

 

[toejam]

Don't use marbles, decorate with old shoes, plastic cups, disposable cutlery, wet tissues, fishing tackle, lost jewellery etc. Whatever trash people dump into the lake. Would be good to use actual items retrieved. Most fish will settle in and use as natural cover.

It can be an educational display as well as an eye opener.

I don't want to insert trash - more like fishing gear, boat gear, sunglasses, watches, etc. A friend from Louisiana gave us an aligator head that we used for a while, but, it was taxiderm'd and ended up decaying some of the taxidermy chemicals - lessons learned of what not to put in a tank for 4 months. Paper products and other soft items just decompose and get the water dirty. Hard items work best.