# Sand Or Gravel? :s



## BanditBrother

Having a hard decision as to whetehr to get black sand or fine black gravel or my new 6ft tank??







Im having a shoal of reds if that helps any!! Thanks guys for your 2 pennys worth!!


----------



## BRUNER247

Its personal preference. Imo sand suks.


----------



## CuzIsaidSo

Get wutever u want....but a shoal of reds are messy as hell so gravel would make cleanup easier


----------



## e46markus

Whats easier to clean is open to debate but as bruner said its all preference. I tend to like finer gravel it gives the slight appearance of sand without the potential damage sand can do your filters by getting sucked up.


----------



## jestergraphics

always been a sand fan, keep filter intaks up a little bit and your golden. Clean up would be yet another preference/opinion I find sand easier in the perspective if your powerhead(s) are set up right they'll create the perfect flow to exercise your P's AND congregate all waste in the same spot every time.







Decor plays a part as well but it can still be achieved; where as with gravel I've found myself having suck every square inch of the tank to get a thorough vac job done....not needed with sand very little gets below the surface like with gravel. HOWEVER you will vac more often, at least I did as you can see EVERYTHING with a basic light sand color.


----------



## Da' Manster!

Gravel hands down!..not even close!....First and foremost, aerobic bacteria (beneficial bacteria) can colonize in gravel beds which helps to maintain water paramaters and quality!...also cleaning is a lot easier in terms of removing chunks of uneaten food and also you don't have to worry about gravel being kicked up and clogging up and ruining your filters!...there is always a danger of this happening with sand!...


----------



## BanditBrother

Went for the black sand option as I have used sand before!!! Hopefully all will go ok! Used a 20kg sack already and need a bit more!!! All clear too and didnt take much rinsing!!! Nearly ready for the fish on the weekend!!! 12 1" for $80







Cant w8 2 get my shoal rollin'


----------



## FishermanCanada

i use tiles because they are really easy to clean.


----------



## BanditBrother

U have a tank with tiles in?? :S Id love to see a pic!! Does it look natural LOL??


----------



## FishermanCanada

Yep but it depends on the type of tile you use. Look up my content and you will see it in some of my videos.


----------



## ACrowe25

Jester not sure if it is the time or place, but if that is your tank in your sig... It's by far the most perfectly decor'd tank I've ever seen. I love the colors and everything. Is that like a special lighting or something? Its just.... amazing. Very nice job if it's yours.


----------



## jestergraphics

ACrowe25 said:


> Jester not sure if it is the time or place, but if that is your tank in your sig... It's by far the most perfectly decor'd tank I've ever seen. I love the colors and everything. Is that like a special lighting or something? Its just.... amazing. Very nice job if it's yours.


yes that is mine, apreciate the compliments but I have a long way to go, now that the "base" look is in there I need to get the fill going.


----------



## addicted216

i use sand in all my tanks, its very easy to mantain, you just have to keep up, gravel sucks, you have to vacuum every square inch, stick with sand

i use sand in all my tanks, its very easy to mantain, you just have to keep up, gravel sucks, you have to vacuum every square inch, stick with sand


----------



## g4life

i have really been thinking of using sand in my 75 gallon red belly tank insted of gravel i had a guy at pet store tell me gravel is better but i am trying to mimick there natural river bottom in the amazon i would like to here from you guys here at piranha fury


----------



## Sanjo Eel

If you want to breed reds someday then go with gravel. If you don't care about trying to breed them then sand is beautiful, especial black moon sand. They like playing in sand from what I have seen and it's cool when they kick it up and it falls back down. Poof!


----------



## zackmorrisl

Ive had both. Sand looks nice but when ur P's go crazy it gets sucked up in ur filters and the tank gets cloudy. Plants will not grow or hold well in sand. What I use now is smaller then gravel but larger then sand. Its harder to find but is the best imo. It can hold plants and its easy to clean. Sand kills powerheads to I find. It gets in the propeller shaft and wears it out, which causes vibration and noise. I wore out 2 powerheads in 3 months with sand kickup. Try to find this crushed gravel stuff though its great and looks like sand unless you got your eye to the edge of the tank.

here is a picture of a mixture of different substrates, you can see the crushed gravel pretty good


----------



## addicted216

zackmorrisl said:


> Ive had both. Sand looks nice but when ur P's go crazy it gets sucked up in ur filters and the tank gets cloudy. Plants will not grow or hold well in sand. What I use now is smaller then gravel but larger then sand. Its harder to find but is the best imo. It can hold plants and its easy to clean. Sand kills powerheads to I find. It gets in the propeller shaft and wears it out, which causes vibration and noise. I wore out 2 powerheads in 3 months with sand kickup. Try to find this crushed gravel stuff though its great and looks like sand unless you got your eye to the edge of the tank.
> 
> here is a picture of a mixture of different substrates, you can see the crushed gravel pretty good


i always use sand, and of course you can grow plants in sand, a matter of fact my plants are thriving inSAND! sand is much easier to clean than gravel, and your filters and powerheads, if maintained right and cleaned, you wont have any problems with those.


----------



## zackmorrisl

I disagree. Plants do not grow in sand in lakes because there is no nutrients in sand and it does not allow roots to get fed proper. Plants grow farther out in silt,clay and mud. Sand does not hold roots very well and slows down the growth of root systems. With gravel it allows food and waste to fall below which feeds the plants. Plants with shorter root systems will not stay down esp. with P's and you have to hold them down with rocks and wood. Do a little research on aquascaping and you will see that it is never used in the hobby. I know a very well respected aquascaper who has won many awards for his tanks. When I first got into aquascaping I had a sand tank and he advised me on what is best after having issues with sand. As for cleaning the substrate, I did it every 6 months because the plants took care of that, I just did 2 water changes a week and this was in my mixed pygo shoal. I had to take my decor and plants out because my fish are getting to big and within a few days my nitrate levels went up to 10. You dont realize how much work they're doing till you take em out!

As for maintaining the powerheads, I was using marineland maxi jet and once a grain of sand gets in there in its kinda cooked. I cleaned them all the time but they wear out when you get kickup and maintaining them does nothing because it can happen within a day.

I'm not trying to argue with you, I'm trying to help others out with my experience.


----------



## bcp0715

After reading these posts, im confused in whether i should change to sand or not. is there different types of sand? or higher and lower grades? IF i am looking for a more natural look, does anyone know a brand of sand that is better or worst? i do have the time to clean my tanks once a week, so left over food and mess won't be a problem. but im sure it would be easier than gravel cleaning my whole tank with RBS in there


----------



## addicted216

bcp0715 said:


> I disagree. Plants do not grow in sand in lakes because there is no nutrients in sand and it does not allow roots to get fed proper. Plants grow farther out in silt,clay and mud. Sand does not hold roots very well and slows down the growth of root systems. With gravel it allows food and waste to fall below which feeds the plants. Plants with shorter root systems will not stay down esp. with P's and you have to hold them down with rocks and wood. Do a little research on aquascaping and you will see that it is never used in the hobby. I know a very well respected aquascaper who has won many awards for his tanks. When I first got into aquascaping I had a sand tank and he advised me on what is best after having issues with sand. As for cleaning the substrate, I did it every 6 months because the plants took care of that, I just did 2 water changes a week and this was in my mixed pygo shoal. I had to take my decor and plants out because my fish are getting to big and within a few days my nitrate levels went up to 10. You dont realize how much work they're doing till you take em out!
> 
> As for maintaining the powerheads, I was using marineland maxi jet and once a grain of sand gets in there in its kinda cooked. I cleaned them all the time but they wear out when you get kickup and maintaining them does nothing because it can happen within a day.
> 
> I'm not trying to argue with you, I'm trying to help others out with my experience.


you must not be doing something right, recheck your system


----------

