Gravel And Rocks

[bunty82]

Hi to all,

My question is what kind of gravel is good for fishes in the tank. DO gravel matter a lot to fishes. I am using the golden sand as my gravel, it got lots of sea shells in it(smalll ones), the seller was saying it comes directly from sea shores. Also what kind of rocks are good for aquarium as i want to make some artificial hidden places for my fishes.
Heard a lot that rock also decays in the water creating dusts

 

[bunty82]

also i wanted to know how much gravel will be sufficient for a 24x14X12 aquarium

 

[bunty82]

Does this forum run out of answers
or i had given a stupid question

 

[TribeOfShroom]

Hi to all,

My question is what kind of gravel is good for fishes in the tank. DO gravel matter a lot to fishes. I am using the golden sand as my gravel, it got lots of sea shells in it(smalll ones), the seller was saying it comes directly from sea shores. Also what kind of rocks are good for aquarium as i want to make some artificial hidden places for my fishes.
Heard a lot that rock also decays in the water creating dusts

Hi,

I can't answer all your questions, but I'll give it a try lol.

I'm not too sure, but I think most of the time substrate is just a matter of personal tastes. Some people have it, some people don't.

As for the 'golden sand', what sort of aquarium are you setting up? If you're setting up a freshwater aquarium, then you may find that the 'golden sand' has a lot of salt in it, which would affect freshwater fish (with the except of mollies and brackish species)

Now rocks in aquariums are usually safer if you buy them from aquatic stores. The main reason for this is that rocks outside, say for instance: from the ground, could carry a number of toxic if not lethal nasties that you wouldn't be wanting to put in your aquarium eg. pesticides etc

Another reason is that, rocks might have the right properties to make your tank ph swing wildy. Say you have a tank with a PH of 6.5 - 7. Brilliant but what happens if you were to add a 'soft' rock with chalk or lime in it? you would see the rock (over a long time) dissolve and before you'd see that happening, you'd more than likely see your PH climb up to 8 or more (although I think anything over 8 is a bit extreme for FW. Although I could be wrong on that if anyone wants to correct me)

The best way to test if you have 'soft' rock is to pour some vinegar on it and see if it starts bubbling and fizzing. If it does, then it's unsuitable for your aquarium.

If you really want to add rocks from your garden etc, then I would boil them for a long long time. I would suggest baking them, but I had a rock explode last time I put one in the oven

As for amount required for your aquarium.. this depends on how thick you want your substrate. Anything from 1" to 2" is sufficient for your average aquarium

Hope this helps

 

[bunty82]

Thanks a lot

well that golden sand also carries sea shells, i was thinking (as the seller told me its good for aquarium) and it costed me around
1$ for a kg.

 

[TribeOfShroom]

If you're setting up a freshwater aquarium, I personally wouldn't use the golden sand product. If you wish to use sand, then there are sands that are available for freshwater aquariums, without salt in them. I think a few of the TFF members even use argos play pit sand

 

[bunty82]

If you're setting up a freshwater aquarium, I personally wouldn't use the golden sand product. If you wish to use sand, then there are sands that are available for freshwater aquariums, without salt in them. I think a few of the TFF members even use argos play pit sand

well i dont believe the LFS as they are jerks who dont know how to take care of fishes all they wanted is to sell fishes and they are list bothered about the care or health. What i think is this golden sand is from some sea or something
and i also saw an aquarium in the seller shop was having golden sand no sign of dust or anything for that matter
may be some synthetic stuff they are selling aas golden sand