Sand Vs Gravel

[rcarbonell]

sand
-dirt stays above the sand
-good for light reflection
-needs to be stir'd up once in a while
gravel
-dirt hides in between gravel
-good for fish that needs dim lights
-takes twice the time to clean up and vacuuming
-might be swallowed by fishses while feeding
-works best with undergravel filter
bare
-easy maintnance

happy fishkeeping

 

[calicichlid]

i have 2 question on this subject
1. is there any other colors besides white and black sand?
i was looking for something more towards a brown color and since i had no luck i somewhat have abandon the idea of using sand.
2. i hear or read alot that the sand will destroy your filter and pumps?
i keep my suction/ inlet tube closer to the bottom of the tank...3''-4'' if i use sand will my filter/pump get messed up?

 

[ziggy2]

This sand is awesome.

 

[DasArab]

sand
-dirt stays above the sand
-good for light reflection
-needs to be stir'd up once in a while
gravel
-dirt hides in between gravel
-good for fish that needs dim lights
-takes twice the time to clean up and vacuuming
-might be swallowed by fishses while feeding
-works best with undergravel filter
bare
-easy maintnance

happy fishkeeping

Not if you buy the proper grained aquarium specific sand.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

i have 2 question on this subject
1. is there any other colors besides white and black sand?
i was looking for something more towards a brown color and since i had no luck i somewhat have abandon the idea of using sand.
2. i hear or read alot that the sand will destroy your filter and pumps?
i keep my suction/ inlet tube closer to the bottom of the tank...3''-4'' if i use sand will my filter/pump get messed up?

1. Yep sand comes in loads of colours- i've seen silica sand come in blue, brown, green, yellow, red etc .

2. Well i've sand in my tanks for years and my filters are all still running fine, sometimes a little sand gets in the sponges, but it is no problem to clean out (just rinse the sponge in a bucket of water, sand sinks to the bottom, tip water out of bucket leaving sand in there and then just scoop it out and put it back in the tank).

 

[balton777]

Calicichlid, sand with HOB's is more risky than canister filters. With an HOB the water (and sand) go thru the impeller first whereas in a canister it's pulled thru sponges and media first and usally won't make it to the impeller. I've had sand for years without any problems. In fact I highly recommend sand. Good luck with which ever way you go.

 

[ShadowBass]

i have 2 question on this subject
1. is there any other colors besides white and black sand?
i was looking for something more towards a brown color and since i had no luck i somewhat have abandon the idea of using sand.
2. i hear or read alot that the sand will destroy your filter and pumps?
i keep my suction/ inlet tube closer to the bottom of the tank...3''-4'' if i use sand will my filter/pump get messed up?

1. Yes, it just depends on what brands and types you find. The pool filter sand they have at my home depot is kind of a light tan. Not exactly straight brown but not pure white either.

2. It CAN damage your filter impellers, but I haven't had it damage any of mine to the point of not working. They will get loud though. In that case you simply replace the impeller, as the filter itself is still fine.
In any case, if you have a habit of running your intakes quite close to the substrate you may want to raise them several inches to prevent sand from getting thrown into them all the time, especially if you have fish that like to dig or stir it up(such as SA cichlids). If none of your fish inhabit the bottom or mess with the substrate it won't even be a problem.
[EDIT: I didn't even see that you said where you keep your intake. I guess I'm slow this morning, lol. Raise it 2-3 inches and you should be ok)

 

[riffraffxl]

I use gravel in my 33 goldfish tank and sand in my 135 malawi tank. Sand is great. It is cleaner (no dirt gets trapped under it) and it allows fish to exhibit certain behaviours that they can't with gravel.

For instance, cichlids like to dig and sift through sand for food...can't do that with gravel. For my fish at least, sand gives them a more natural environment to live in.

 

[ziggy2]

I am now going to switch all my tanks to sand. I can't believe the difference in how it looks. My Africans will love it. It ought to be fun to switch from gravel to sand. My 120 has large size gravel with an under gravel filter. I've been wanting to do away with it anyway. But I want to switch to sand. Any suggestions???

 

[ShadowBass]

I am now going to switch all my tanks to sand. I can't believe the difference in how it looks. My Africans will love it. It ought to be fun to switch from gravel to sand. My 120 has large size gravel with an under gravel filter. I've been wanting to do away with it anyway. But I want to switch to sand. Any suggestions???

Do you have alternate filtration (enough to support the tank) on the 120? If you remove the UGF all at once you're removing most of your biological filtration. If you do have adequate filtration on there, other than the UGF, you will have to remove the gravel very slowly over the course of several weeks to keep your tank from going through another cycle.
If you don't have filtration you'll want to add it on, put some gravel in it with the media to allow the new media to culture and then go ahead with the above.