Gravel Or Sand?

[badtothebone322]

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!

 

[Westwood]

I would personal recommend sand, you cannot have a under gravel filter with sand, but I doubt one would be used with 55 gallon tank.
I say sand, as fish like firemouths put the fry in ditches they dig in the sand, and this cannot be done with gravel. Also may other fish in the cichlid family prefer sand.

 

[hillmar77]

Only requirements you gonna need is a good gravel vacuum to suck up all the waste that seems to sit on top of the sand. You might end up like myself and do a gravel vac everyday, just too messy to leave it alone!
Also make sure you give the new sand a really good clean ( keep filling the bucket up and draining till the water is clear)

 

[badtothebone322]

Only requirements you gonna need is a good gravel vacuum to suck up all the waste that seems to sit on top of the sand. You might end up like myself and do a gravel vac everyday, just too messy to leave it alone!
Also make sure you give the new sand a really good clean ( keep filling the bucket up and draining till the water is clear)

A normal gravel filter can be used for sand??

 

[hillmar77]

Only requirements you gonna need is a good gravel vacuum to suck up all the waste that seems to sit on top of the sand. You might end up like myself and do a gravel vac everyday, just too messy to leave it alone!
Also make sure you give the new sand a really good clean ( keep filling the bucket up and draining till the water is clear)

A normal gravel filter can be used for sand??

Yup...just make sure you get some good sand... example- play sand, pool sand, Tahitian Moon sand etc.
We are talking about a hob or canister filter right?

 

[RustedKnight]

i'm using a normal gravel layer, with sand on top.. this is mainly for my planted plants, otherwise i'd be happy just with a decent layer of sand.

My "sand" is actually fine roman gravel, but it's so fine I class it as sand.

 

[badtothebone322]

Uhhh...

This is the filter:
Top Fin 60 Power Filter with 2 cartridges
http/www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2752295

I will also be using the filters from my 29 gallon, but Im not sure of their names.

So if I want plants, which I do, I'll need a layer of gravel under sand?

 

[RustedKnight]

Uhhh...

This is the filter:
Top Fin 60 Power Filter with 2 cartridges
http/www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2752295

I will also be using the filters from my 29 gallon, but Im not sure of their names.

So if I want plants, which I do, I'll need a layer of gravel under sand?

You wouldn't NEED it.. sand itself would likely be perfectly fine, I just wanted to give them something a bit more substantial to root into, stops my fish digging them up aswell.

Sand itself would likely be fine, i'm just fussy ;P

 

[hillmar77]

Uhhh...

This is the filter:
Top Fin 60 Power Filter with 2 cartridges
http/www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2752295

I will also be using the filters from my 29 gallon, but Im not sure of their names.

So if I want plants, which I do, I'll need a layer of gravel under sand?

Yeah that filter would be fine with a sand substrate(just make sure its a few inches from the top of the sand). You can put plants in without the gravel under the sand, and another good thing is that some of the fish poop can be used as fertilizer for your plants

 

[badtothebone322]

And is the process for sand the same as gravel? Put in bucket, wash, wash, wash, wash, wash? Also, how much sand would I need for this tank?

 

[RustedKnight]

I make that out to be 140-150 litre tank right?

How much floor space?

For example my tank is 36inches, by 12inches on the floor.

I needed best part of 5kg of sand to make a decent layer.

 

[badtothebone322]

The dimesnsions of the tank are 48-1/4"L x 12-3/4"W x 20-13/16"H

That brings it to about 210 litres I believe.

 

[hillmar77]

And is the process for sand the same as gravel? Put in bucket, wash, wash, wash, wash, wash? Also, how much sand would I need for this tank?

Yeah take it in a bucket and fill it up with water, stir it a little bit then poor the water out. Keep doing this till there is no cloudiness. I mean if you are going for a planted tank then a little more sand height might be nice for your plants. So maybe 1.5 inches ~ 2 inches. Then of coarse you want to have some extra sand around to replenish some that might disappear from gravel vacuuming and other stuff. Play sand and pool sand is cheap so just buy a big bucket.

 

[RustedKnight]

The dimesnsions of the tank are 48-1/4"L x 12-3/4"W x 20-13/16"H

That brings it to about 210 litres I believe.

My calculations off because of differences between UK and USa gallons??

How did you do your calculations?

it's certainly large, an extra 12 inches on mine.. you're probably better off buying a 10k bag of sand, and having some spare.. means you can replace some sand with fresh stuff after each "gravel vac".. then rotate weekly..or something. This would probably help keep nitrates and etc down.

 

[badtothebone322]

The dimesnsions of the tank are 48-1/4"L x 12-3/4"W x 20-13/16"H

That brings it to about 210 litres I believe.

My calculations off because of differences between UK and USa gallons??

How did you do your calculations?

it's certainly large, an extra 12 inches on mine.. you're probably better off buying a 10k bag of sand, and having some spare.. means you can replace some sand with fresh stuff after each "gravel vac".. then rotate weekly..or something. This would probably help keep nitrates and etc down.

Im not sure how accurate it is, but I used the calculator at the top of the page.