Sand V Gravel the great debate

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
i always use gravel, but thanks to this forum i decide to change to POOL FILTER SAND and i couldn't be more happy about it, love the looks and its IMO easier to mantein clean, and my polys look way more happy than before.

Garniac, dont worry about your bichirs choking with sand ;)
Use pool filter sand and you will not have any problems, just wash it very, very well (this is the only problem i find with PFS, but you only do it once so)
 
Now you guys have me wanting to change all my tanks to sand... hmmmmmmm...
 
Hmm... I think it all comes down to what fish you have and what they like. It should be the fish's health that is most important, not what it looks like necessarily. I'm getting some multis pretty soon and I know that they prefer a lot of sand. I think I'm gonna go with 2 1/2 inches of the stuff, but that leaves plenty of room for the anaerobic gases to form, especially since I don't have the leisure time to clean it everyday. In my previous tank I had a corydora who, though he got used to it, probably hated the gravel because he had to sift through the cracks to get his food.

Idk, IMO it just comes down to what the fish like and then what you like.
 
I have quarts sand in my tank its been there for 10 yrs my bichirs love it never any problems its about 2 inches thick.
 
I use a mixture of sand and pebbles too large to fit in my bichir's mouth. I originally had small gravel in his tank but I caught him spitting pieces out, so I removed anything small enough to fit in his mouth. When he gets bigger I'll have to move to larger rocks. I think that rocks/ pebbles/ gravel are great for bb, sand not so much. Plus I like the look of the mixture.
 
Just a couple of points Anne;
You can have some live plants with bare bottom tanks, java fern and anubias can be attached to wood or rocks, and there's always floating plants.

Another option not mentioned is tiles (See this thread for a great example). All the pros of a bare bottom tank but much nicer to look at.
 
Hayabusa;3009347; said:
Sorry for possibly a n00b question, but what is MTS?
Click to expand...


come on we all know its MULTIPLE TANK SYNDROME
 
I use very fine crushed coral in all my tanks. It's the consistency of coarse sand, so it doesn't often get sucked out when I'm vacuuming, although I don't tend to do that too often because I have plants too. I like the fact that it keeps the tank stable too - very handy when you've got a big bioload and you live in the tropics where temperatures are generally quite high.

David R - thanks for attaching that thread. The tiled look is very impressive, I might actually give it a go one day...
 
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