Gravel Or Sand?

[Aqua Tom]

Sharp sand is exactly that, sharp, its course & jagged so helps in concrete making etc.

 

[Psingh]

Hi, I'm going to be upgraded from my 29 gallon tank late in December. I am going to be upgrading to a 55 gallon tank. I was wondering what is a better substrate, gravel or sand?

Currently, I have gravel. I never used sand before... Are there any special requirements for it?

Also, I would like some stocking ideas... I am totally undecided on what to get... I would like to try and breed some easy egg laying fish that actually gaurd/protect the fry.

Any advice on either idea would be great!

Erm maybe try keeping some convict cichlids? i am also new to this and ive got a pair of convicts had them for about 2 weeks just waiting for them to breed.

 

[Timmy_Bee]

for gravel vaccing, do you sand users just put the vac near the sand to try to suck up the poo and not the sand? i use gravel, so i bury the vac deep into the gravel - im guessing if you do this with sand you will be topping it up every time to water change!

 

[Vidster]

I actually use a 1/2" hose as a sand filter. I have also Taken an old wire coat hanger. Straightened it out then bent it in half. I have then pushed it in to the 1/2" tube until just 1 1/2" of it is protruding. Now i just stir the sand up with the wire and any nasties fly up the tube. If you have a gravel filter already you can simply add the wire part. The good thing about the wire is i can pull it out to any length and give my sand a good old churn up to release any gasses that might be building up

Alternatively if you didn't want to mess about with wire you can simply hold the gravel filter an inch off the sand and spin it from side to side creating a vortex effect. Once you've practiced doing it a bit it becomes quite easy.

 

[RustedKnight]

I actually use a 1/2" hose as a sand filter. I have also Taken an old wire coat hanger. Straightened it out then bent it in half. I have then pushed it in to the 1/2" tube until just 1 1/2" of it is protruding. Now i just stir the sand up with the wire and any nasties fly up the tube. If you have a gravel filter already you can simply add the wire part. The good thing about the wire is i can pull it out to any length and give my sand a good old churn up to release any gasses that might be building up

Alternatively if you didn't want to mess about with wire you can simply hold the gravel filter an inch off the sand and spin it from side to side creating a vortex effect. Once you've practiced doing it a bit it becomes quite easy.

...That wire bit is genious!!

That saves me from sucking up my sand.. Marvellous.

 

[Harlequins]

I changed to sand once i became hooked on corys,i find sand alot easier to clean than the gravel.i use a standard half inch tube and swirl it around the top of the sand,then puttting my finger over the other end to stop the flow of water,i then use the hose to stir the sand.i do this over the whole of the tank during waterchange day

 

[-Craig-]

Depends on what you would find easier to maintain, anyway 1 of My community tanks have Gravel, and the other 2 have Sand,I have Sharp sand, its really nice, i find it easier to maintain.

 

[the biffster]

Depends on what you would find easier to maintain, anyway 1 of My community tanks have Gravel, and the other 2 have Sand,I have Sharp sand, its really nice, i find it easier to maintain.

yeah i find sharp sand to be
a lose sand and its easy to vac
and keep tidy

 

[OldMan47]

Sharp sand is probably quite easy to maintain but it is not the sand you want for cories. Cories rummage about in the substrate for bits of food and sharp sand will wear down their barbels. As others have said, sharp sand is a good idea for mixing concrete but it is far from a natural sand for a river or stream situation. Sand that has been moved about and ground against other sand particles becomes quite rounded, not sharp. Sharp sand is manufactured by crushing larger rock particles.
Maintenance of sand is easy. You hold the gravel vac a fraction of an inch above the sand and swirl it a bit to stir up the dirt. It goes right up the tube quite nicely and since it does not work its way down into the substrate, you don't need to do a deep cleaning. The reality of gasses building up is that they do no harm in place below the surface of the substrate and and are easily removed by disturbing the sand or gravel while you have the gravel vac nearby. If you let things go long enough, any substrate will accumulate pockets of gas that may give a bit of an off odor when disturbed, but think about the many inches thick mat of organic material in a natural stream. It does the fish no harm when they disturb it and the gasses in that situation are far larger deposits than you will ever see in your tank.