Marbles in fish tank

[1300131es]

Hi all, I just got a 120 gallon fish tank, I was wondering if I
can substitute gravel with marbles. I like sand but am afraid it will be too much work or mess. I like the consistency or uniform look. would there be any downside marble vs gravel?

 

[nfored]

I would think that it would be harder to gravel vac, and also that you could end up with algae attaching itself to the marbles. however marbles give fry a great place to hid from hungry fish.

 

[gobucks1]

Larger substrate gives more places for food and crap to get trapped. As nfored said it would probably be hard to keep clean.

Anything is worth a try though.

 

[chesterthehero]

other than scratches i dont think it would be a problem..
algae is only an issue if conditions are right for algae (overfeeding and undercleaning)..

fry would LOVE it.. as would snails..

a single layer of marbles would be really rad looking... sort of a barebottom look with texture..

i say go for it and post pics

 

[benzjamin13]

It'll be harder to clean...gravel vac won't be able to "fluff" it enough so debris will more likely get stuck. But it'll look nice for a few months

 

[dominicolas]

I think that a gravel vac would do just fine, because the water flow doesn't need to stir up marbels, there is enough room for water to flow between the marbles and pick up dibris. I say go for it, but if their clear marbels light will penetrate and algea will grow where it is hard to manage.

 

[Mattyou]

Marbles and or glass beads from the craft store work fine.

 

[Dr Joe]

Marbles and or glass beads from the craft store work fine.

The glass 'ice cubes' look good too.

And marbles don't get sucked up the gravel vac (except mine ).

Dr Joe

.

 

[1300131es]

thanks for the info guys

 

[Pharaoh]

Hard to beat sand in the "easy to clean" category. Try it out and post up some pics after a couple months.