Bettas and Sand?

[dixaisy930]

I will be transfering one of my community tanks to sand, and was wondering if anyone has tried keeping bettas in a tank with a sand substrate.

I would think it might be easier on their fins the gravel...or maybe worse?

 

[bkk_group]

we don't use gravel with our fish. nothing wrong with it per say but considering the amount of time we spend changing their water it just gets in the way.

 

[DizBjOhN104]

bettas look better with out substrate. barebottom is the best for bettas since they won't have to leave their fins on something hard and ruffy like gravel.

sand is a tough substrate to work with. it gets messy most of the time and you will suffer cleaning it up if you use sand. and also sand can ruin your filter very easy.

if i were u gravel would be the best but that doesn't mean you can't use sand

 

[Alien_spawn]

sand is a tough substrate to work with. it gets messy most of the time and you will suffer cleaning it up if you use sand. and also sand can ruin your filter very easy.

My betta is fine with sand

As for mess I think its no worse than gravel, if not a little easier to clean, just stir the substrate up and then vacuum it up as you would with gravel.

I've been running a Fluval externel canister now for 2+ yrs and its never damaged my filter, its true you have to clean inside the filter a bit more often

 

[thecichlidaddict]

I've been running a Fluval externel canister now for 2+ yrs and its never damaged my filter, its true you have to clean inside the filter a bit more often

Canister filters are safe for sand because the sand hits the impeller after it goes through all of the media in the filter. Hanging power filters like Aquaclears can be ruined because the sand goes directly into the impeller. Keeping the intake several inches above the sand bed will prevent this tough.

I prefer sand because it is cleaner over all, debris can't sink into it the way it does in gravel. It's very easy to syphon poop off the top of the sand too.

 

[Alien_spawn]

I'm not familiar with the aquaclear range, but I also have a Fluval +1 internal running in the same tank with the canister, but again the sand gets stopped before hitting the impeller (sponge and floss take care of that)