NEED HELP WITH TANK QESTION!!

[Monster Oscar]

HI, now ive seen plenty of tanks with and with OUT gravel/sand on the bottom... but im wondering what is better like not looks but which way would keep the tank cleaner?

if i took out my gravel from my tank would it be easyier to keep clean?

 

[velanarris]

Short answer, yes.
Long answer, yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeessssssssssssssssssssss.



Not having gravel means there's no where for anaerobic bacteria to hide, nor is there anywhere for the waste to get stuck.

 

[knifegill]

Yeah. I went barebottom for my Oscar and haven't looked back. I can net out any solid waste every day or so and my nitrates stay around ten. I had gravel in the tank with a Royal Pleco, aka Woodeater. The mulm was intolerable. Nitrates always climbed.

Just be sure to use enough bio-media to make up for the lost surface area.

 

[Monster Oscar]

Short answer, yes.
Long answer, yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeessssssssssssssssssssss.



Not having gravel means there's no where for anaerobic bacteria to hide, nor is there anywhere for the waste to get stuck.

but dont i need the bacteria to break down ammonia, fish waste, and left over food??

 

[knifegill]

Not anaerobic bacteria.

 

[Monster Oscar]

Yeah. I went barebottom for my Oscar and haven't looked back. I can net out any solid waste every day or so and my nitrates stay around ten. I had gravel in the tank with a Royal Pleco, aka Woodeater. The mulm was intolerable. Nitrates always climbed.

Just be sure to use enough bio-media to make up for the lost surface area.

does takeing out the gravel make it at all less cloudy in the water?

what do you think about sand??

 

[knifegill]

I've never tried sand. It's beautiful, but more likely to trap waste and produce swamp gas, from what I understand.

Cloudiness is usually algal or bacterial and also usually harmless. Changing substrates could affect cloudiness in many ways. If your gravel is caked full of waste, removing it will reduce the nitrogenous wastes in your tank and, hopefully, starve the microorganisms that cloud the water. Or, adding new substrate could loose particulates, but that usually clears up on its own within an hour or so.

Warning: The act of removing old, filthy gravel can potentially release toxic gases that may harm the tank's inhabitants. If you regularly vacuum your gravel all the way down to the bottom, it should be fine. But if you use under gravel filtration, or don't stir your gravel often, you'll want to temporarily move the fish during this activity.

 

[tcarswell]

I've never tried sand. It's beautiful, but more likely to trap waste and produce swamp gas, from what I understand.

Cloudiness is usually algal or bacterial and also usually harmless. Changing substrates could affect cloudiness in many ways. If your gravel is caked full of waste, removing it will reduce the nitrogenous wastes in your tank and, hopefully, starve the microorganisms that cloud the water. Or, adding new substrate could loose particulates, but that usually clears up on its own within an hour or so.

Warning: The act of removing old, filthy gravel can potentially release toxic gases that may harm the tank's inhabitants. If you regularly vacuum your gravel all the way down to the bottom, it should be fine. But if you use under gravel filtration, or don't stir your gravel often, you'll want to temporarily move the fish during this activity.

Good warning.Basically when you remove the gravel yes it may help you keep your water cleaner by making the detritus more visible and easier to clean. But you will be moving all your BB in to your canisters HOB etc. Just make sure you got enough bio media and your all good.

 

[Monster Oscar]

anyone else have any ideas??

 

[Bderick67]

Without gravel you'll be cleaning your tank more often, unless you like the look of poo.