sand or gravel and color in 55gal

[BadKarma99-4spd]

i have a 48"lx12"w18"h (45-55 gal?) and nothing else. i was pondering getting black substrate(gravel or sand?) with a black background to maybe bring out the color in the fish? i dont care for the natural brown look, but i dont want to drive my future fish nuts with colors. i like a bright tank with lots of colors but id rather be able to see my fish instead of some fancy colored rocks and plants. also i dont want to pay a small fortune for rocks or sand from a lfs so when looking elsewhere what should i look for in a safe substrate(i know no limestone which is what all the rock around here is)

can anyone offer up some advice or opinions on any of these questions

thanks much
jarrad

 

[Pufferpack]

Try going to your local hardware store and buying steralised sand-box sand. I use it in all my tanks because it is cheap ($3.95 for 25 Kg). If you don't like the brown/yellow look you can buy a bag of colored sand from the lfs and mix 3 to 1 with the sand-box sand, gives it a nice effect. The only drawback I've found with the sand-box sand is you have to rinse it like 10 times to get the bulk of the dust particles out before adding it to the tank.

Edit...I found an old post showing the look of sand in some of our tanks The look of Sand

HTH.

 

[smb]

Looks awesome Pufferpack!

Every time I see someones sand tanks I feel like switching but then after the excitement wears down I realize the work I would have to do and I sit here until the excitement goes away and can go back to being lazy.

 

[canis_lupus]

lol smb......i agree i wanted sand but then got lazy and didn't bother ) the dark gravel does bring out the colours in fish......i was gonna get black but then got dark blue and i also have dark green. both look good and all the tanks at the pet store have black gravel and they look good with the blue background.......good luck it's more a personal choice

 

[George Farmer]

Sand will compact over time unless you have substrate heating (under gravel heater cable).

Small gravel (1 - 3mm) is best if you intend having a planted tank, it allows easy rooting and achoring.

I'd recommend substrate heating anyway to prevent it from going anaerobic leading to cyanobacteria (slime algae).

Personally I would not go the coloured root. Natural looks the best for me, as nature intends.

Hope this helps, good luck.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi BadKarma99-4spd and welcome to the forum

A black gravel tank would be beautiful especially if it had lots of green plants and colorful fish. But if you are considering colored gravel, let me caution you about the material the gravel is made of. Be sure that whatever it is made of it is solid. Rock or whatever, do not get something that may have a painted coating or be composed of compressed anything.

I bring this up just as a caution. There are, I know, great colored gravels for sale at the lfs, but I had a bad experience with one. After being in the tank for awhile, it started breaking down and when I siphoned small colored particles began coming up. In time it got worse, not better. This was expensive gravel, not something cheap. Eventually, I had to take the tank apart and replace it. What I found was that underneath the color was white material.

Since this stuff comes in packages, perhaps someone will suggest some reputable brands.

 

[BadKarma99-4spd]

thanks so much for all the quick replies. im sure ill have more questions.

im really leaning towards the black sand since i havent seen it anywhere, but im still worried about finding a fish safe brand/type

 

[Alien Anna]

I've seem slate gravel for sale - literally slate that is broken up into tiny pieces. My concern would be that its a big scratchy. I've also seen Hawiian volcanic sand (naturally black) for marine tanks - if I ever get a marine tank I'd get that.