Sand Vs. Gravel

[catfishblues]

i currently have black gravel but i want sand. both for appearance and for my loaches. i do realize that it is harder to clean. my friend has sand and when he tries to siphon waste off of the sand the sand goes with it. i assume it is too finely grained. has anyone had this problem or any reason why i shouldn't switch to sand?

 

[fluttermoth]

I honestly can't think of a single reason why gravel might be better than sand.

It's not harder to clean, you just need to get the knack of swirling the dirt up with your gravel cleaner rather than sticking it right in! Anyway, if you do syphon some sand out, just give it a wash in your bucket and tip it back in; no problem

 

[OldMan47]

A change from gravel to sand is a personal choice. I have several tanks with each of those substrates and a few more that have bare bottoms and still more planted tanks that use a soil substrate with a gravel cap on top. Every one of my tanks has its own peculiarities when to comes to cleaning. The gravel only ones are the easiest since I can plunge the siphon to the bottom of the substrate and simply move it when that patch of gravel is clean. The sand requires that I hover the siphon about 1 cm above the sand to minimize the amount of sand that gets sucked up with the dirt. The bare bottom tanks are mostly used for fry, where I know that I will be siphoning often and want to do a thorough job. The Walstad style dirt tanks are the best for my plants but require the most difficult gravel cleaning. I clean them by doing a shallow gravel vac that removes mostly dirt from the gravel while not picking up the dirt under the gravel cap. An error of a mere fraction of an inch can ruin those tanks so I spend a bit more time getting them right during a routine cleaning. The good side of that is that they can easily go 6 months between gravel vacs, so it is not such a huge burden after all.

 

[tenohfive]

Personally I prefer sand and I don't mind that a little sand goes down the drain (I syphon using a long piece of tubing straight outside) as it's a negligible amount - but as mentioned above, there is a knack of swirling the tubing a few cm above the sand - the dirt gets sucked up in a reverse whirlpool style which means you shouldn't lose any sand. If you do collect a little in a bucket then it's easy enough to pop it back into the tank.

 

[catfishblues]

Thank you everyone for you input! also I have noticed that aquarium sand is a bit pricey. will playground sand work just as well?

 

[MermaidMel]

I prefer sand and think it's easier to keep clean, with gravel you really need to root about to clean it, all the debris falls between the gravel and if you have 2+ inches of gravel it takes ages to clean it, but with sand, it's packed so tight, the debris is mainly on the surface. My twopenceworth

 

[minnnt]

Hi there. Are you from the UK? I have had a look on your profile but it doesn't say...

I have recently changed from gravel (quite coarse stuff) to sand and i think it is the best thing i have ever done! I used play sand from Argos, £2.98 for a 15kg bag. I have a Roma 125 tank which has a floor plan of about 32x14 inches and there is half a bucket left over. I would say the substrate is around 1.5 - 2 inches deep. When you compare this to the more expensive 'aquarium' sand you will find it's about a fifth of the price. lol. At first i wondered why on earth i had done it as when in the bucket it looks brown. But when in the tank and under the bright lights it's more of an off white colour. I filled half a bucket with the sand and left the outside tap running into the bucket until the water ran clear (about 5 minutes) then added it to my tank. Did this until i had enough sand in there, added my rocks and bog wood etc and then filled with water. I placed two heaters in the tank to warm it up quicker then put the fish back in about 5 hours later. The following morning the water was clear.

Don't forget to clean your filter out soon after (the following day or so) as it will have tiny particles of sand in it which could damage the propeller etc.

 

[catfishblues]

thanks! and no im from the us. i will keep everyone posted if i decide to switch! which i think i will!

 

[mishka83]

I've just used sand for the first time in my new aquarium and i love it already!!

I love the way it naturally ripples and moves, beautiful.

 

[catfishblues]

I've just used sand for the first time in my new aquarium and i love it already!!

I love the way it naturally ripples and moves, beautiful.

great description! now im even more exited!

 

[catfishblues]

i switched out the gravel yesterday and when it stops being so cloudy i will post before and after pictures