Gravel Or Sand

[nickgt4185]

I have gravel in my smallest tank ,black sand im my medium size tank and im getting white sand for my new biggest tank and i prefer sand for sure ,it looks cleaner than the gravel ,my only problem is when vacuuming the sand i always suck a little bit out with the water ,so will need topping back up in a few months of so but sand all the way.

 

[RCA]

Once you go sand you never go back lol

 
Trust me some people do, as already said its all down to personal preference. Both have their own pros and cons. 
 
I don't ever see myself using sand again. Like everything in this hobby go with what you like because after all its you who will be looking at the tank every day. 

 
Have fun 

 
Livewire, why do you not see yourself ever using sand again, what is your experiences with it please?  
Do you or have you kept Corys and if so on what substrate?
 

This 'medium' size cost me £19.99

But you can find mediums for £15 in MA I think.

 
Shelster, what was the name of this?  Was it the sand or the fine gravel, Limpopo?

 

[Nik00117]

Sand is awesome. Nuff said currently have black sand.

 

[Livewire88]

 

Once you go sand you never go back lol

 
Trust me some people do, as already said its all down to personal preference. Both have their own pros and cons. 
 
I don't ever see myself using sand again. Like everything in this hobby go with what you like because after all its you who will be looking at the tank every day. 

 
Have fun 

 
Livewire, why do you not see yourself ever using sand again, what is your experiences with it please?  
Do you or have you kept Corys and if so on what substrate?

 
 
I have used sand a couple of times, but each time ended up going back to gravel within a couple of weeks. I tend to have a high flow in all my tanks because they are planted, so found that sand would get blown everywhere if it was disturbed, then it would settle on the plant leaves meaning I would have to tap every leaf to get the sand off! also When it was time to clean my external filter I had to clean a lot of sand out of the media. I found the filter flow dropped a lot quicker because of the trapped sand.
 
In regards to the Corry's I have always kept them on fine gravel, they seem just as happy as my sisters Corry's that live on sand, there barbels are nice and long and they have no problem sifting through the gravel. As long as the gravel you use is not sharp they will be fine. 
 
I am using Caribsea eco-complete (fine grain version) in my main tank with the Corrydoras at the moment.

 

[RCA]

 Livewire, very useful in my current quest ...

 

[CoryLover95]

It depends on your fish...if you are planning on catfish, definitely go with sand, because they (at least Corys) filter the sand through their mouthparts to catch bits of food, and you don't want gravel getting stuck.  If you aren't planning on catfish, it's really a matter of personal choice.  I have sand for my aquarium - white play sand for now, although I'd like black.  Those bags of sand are pretty expensive and I got 50lbs of playsand for $3...

 

[Tuxyu3]

I feel i should mention that i was talking with some guys on another forum about black sand and the general consensus among the people who had experienced it with Cory's was that they were not happy with it due to the fact it is generally much sharper and  rougher than normal sand, so possibly worse than just having them on smooth stones or gravel. I chose to stick with play sand for this reason.

 

[This Old Spouse]

I agree with Tuxyu3. Black sand is actually ground lava stone, so it's like ground glass. Not good for cory at all. I have play sand in all my tanks, with pool filter sand the majority in one tank (which I hope to replace with play sand soon).
 
When I first switched one tank to sand from gravel, I was completely disgusted by the amount of hideous goo under the gravel, and I was (I thought) extremely thorough in my cleaning of it. 
 
Sand not only keeps that goo from forming, it's so easy to swirl the siphon hose around and all the loose particles go right up the tube. If using multicolored play sand, you can hardly see any poo that settles there, so the tanks always look fairly clean.
 
The plants do great in sand, with extensive root systems. 
 
No more gravel for me.

 

[RCA]

I feel i should mention that i was talking with some guys on another forum about black sand and the general consensus among the people who had experienced it with Cory's was that they were not happy with it due to the fact it is generally much sharper and  rougher than normal sand, so possibly worse than just having them on smooth stones or gravel. I chose to stick with play sand for this reason.

Interesting, I just read elsewhere that play sand is sharper than filter sand hence filter is the sand of choice.  I know play sand is a choice of many hobbyists so this is an interesting discussion.  I was put off sand as I was advised due to it compacting the plants can struggle.
 
Anyone come across Grey sand?

 

[frapadoodle]

In my opinion, the compaction of sand is hunka-bunka. To properly compact it, one would have to tamp it down.
As for stifling plant roots. Just don't see how. Sand is pourus, even when tamped down.
Got play sand in one tank, and the swords have a root system a good foot long.
Have paver sand in the other tank. It has slightly larger grains. Only stems, but great roots. And no bottom dwellers to stir up the sand and no anaerobic pockets.

As for gray sand, I have seen dyes, but they were for brick mortar. Can't say I have seen gray sand though.

And about the poo, easy to clean. Another way to stir it up is rubberband a chopstick or piece of dowel rod to the siphon hose. As to going back to gravel, well one day I might set up a ten gallon to mimic my very first tank I had as a boy. Red gravel, three ceramic soda cans, a bubble filter, and a couple of clumps of anacharis. Other than that, gravel is for the driveway not the aquarium.

 

[RCA]

LOL thanks for the explanation and I love the idea of attaching a dowel rod or similar to the siphon hose

 

[TheStretchedElf]

I have sand in mine. I think it looks fantastic and gives the tank a natural feel. I have only just started to populate my tank but I do plan on getting some kuhli loaches which will love burrowing in the sand. On the downside sand does seem harder to clean.

 

[This Old Spouse]

Very pretty tank! Why do you think the sand is harder to clean?

 

[TheStretchedElf]

Very pretty tank! Why do you think the sand is harder to clean?

Was that to me? If so, thanks! As for cleaning sand, I have a vacuum siphon which I imagine would be very easy to clean gravel with as you could just plonk it into the gravel and let it swirl about. If you do that with sand it just sucks up sand along with your dirty water. I have to kind of disturb it just enough so the sand settles back down whilst the waste and muck gets sucked up.

 

[This Old Spouse]

Yes, that was to you! I find sand much easier to clean because all the gunk just sits on top. I take my siphon and just swirl it around just above the surface of the sand. All that stuff gets caught in the "whirlpool" and goes right up the tube.