What style tank would you recommend???

[stu9158]

Alright fellas and girls,

I was wondering what style tank you would recommend. I have had a planted tank but had some problems with my filter and alot of them are dead so had to take them all out.

So having looked at all the awesome tanks you guys have im not sure whether to go for the blank tank look or go back to a planted tank??

All so whats a good suggestion for substrate i currently have white sand but is a pain in the backside to clean. I've seen blank, sand, small gravel and slate and tiles but not sure which to choose.

So looking for any advice.
Cheers guys.

 

[pi-eyed]

I switched from sand to pea gravel and in my larger tanks went to river stone. The sand was a hassle when you have monsters. When I would vac the sand substrate, I would suck up a lot of sand and leave the monster turd I was after still in the tank... Bare bottom tanks,and tiled tanks are easiest to clean because you can see all of the waste and uneaten food but imo are not pleasing to my eye....

my 2cents,

----Chris

 

[kered]

i say go planted!! im impartial though im currently doing a 40 breeder planted with some juvi polys...i love the natural look

 

[JamesF]

All my polys are in planted tanks. More natural IMO.

 

[tokyogasmask]

Smaller polys I would say go planted.
All but 2 of my tanks are housed with very large monsters, and planted tanks just end up a complete mess overnight, so I keep them to just sand and driftwood. (I use crushed garnet stone over normal sand as it is very heavy)
The 2 tanks with smaller Bichirs at the moment are not planted, but they will be very shortly.

 

[gerryjun]

i think anything beyond 75g maintaining planted tanks becomes too time consuming, and with large species they can easily be uprooted, but they are perfect for small species that are below 18" upper jaws, and some say promotes spawning.

i personally prefer dark colored sand or small gravel with a powerful filtration system, i only clean my sand about once in 4months, as all the dirt eventually ends up on my Sump and that's what i clean regularly.

 

[mike_sema]

I would stick with sand as it it great and safe for polys, I would go with fake plants as when they get larger they just dulldoze over anything, my big polys move the big drift wood around at night kinda funny