Which Substrate Do You Prefer And Why?

[BETTY BOO]

which substrate do you prefer in your tank and why?

 

[joyboy]

Gravel, better looks and more realistic. Sand is too plain. i think sand is better if you have bottom scavengers in your tank though.

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Black sand for me!

Oh, and I like Caribsea Tahitian Moon as it's got a really dark black colour.

 

[Lufbramatt]

Toys R Us playsand- nice and cheap so doesn't matter if I hoover it up when doing water changes, and my cichlids can dig in it to their hearts content without fear of injury. I liven it up with small pebbles and the shells for the shell dwellers.

There's no way I'm paying 25 quid for a bag of "special" sand just because it has a picture of a fish on the packaging.

 

[Tizer]

jelly beans, they look pretty.

 

[Lufbramatt]

jelly beans, they look pretty.

Tasty snack for the fish when you go on holiday too?

 

[Noahs ark6]

I prefer sand; easier to clean (keep clean) and better for bottom dwellers

 

[fozzy81]

Just changed from gravel to sand my tank looks miles better and my fish love it cheap and cheerful

 

[FishBlast]

White sand, just because it shows my dark fish better. If I had black sand, I'd only see one fish properly. LOL.
It seems to be clean most of the time, got a swordie that likes to act as cleaner.

 

[dbanner]

Definitely black sand, I have play sand in a couple of my tanks but the black sand looks so much better. Yes it costs more but it brings out the colours of the fish a lot more than play sand. Play sand made my cichlids look faint.

All in all sand of any type is easily to clean and keep clean and it gives you a wider choice to the fish you can keep. Corys for example

 

[papuzka]

Dark gray/ almost black sand but not unnaturally black >.>

 

[RamboFish]

I prefer sand; easier to clean (keep clean) and better for bottom dwellers

Agree completely. I've had gravel up till about 3 weeks ago and don't regret it at all. I had natural gravel and now have natural sand. It looks much better and the improvement in my fish is unreal. I have 7 corys whose barbels were previously a but like stumps (which is what convinced me to change), 3 weeks later they have long barbels! Brilliant stuff. So smart and easy to clean too. I just use my gravel vacume over the top and it sucks up all the waste without sucking up the sand. Sometimes I put it right into the sand then just put my finger over the hose and it drops it anyway.

 

[tomtomtom1230]

Gravel, better looks and more realistic. Sand is too plain. i think sand is better if you have bottom scavengers in your tank though.

It depends on what look you're going for in your tank. Anything in a marine tank, a riverbed tank or a rainforest tank should be sand or soil based for all purposes surrounding authenticity. Also, most plants' roots do better in a sand or a soil substrate. There are a limited number of plants that will take to gravel.

I find sand easier to clean, too.

 

[FishBlast]

I don't have a gravel vac (had a tube and failed to use it, repeatedly), but I net stuff out whenever I can find any fish poop on the floor.
I've had gravel long ago, it was all white and with corners, while I didn't have any problem related to any bottom scavenger fish with it despite its sharpness, it was a huge risk of scratching the tank.

Sand seems much safer and allows fish to sit on it or dig through and it's funny seeing them do that.

 

[Marnee]

Much rather have sand then gravel. I find the sand more natural looking and I'm sure my fish like it better. I do have Panda Corys so sand was a must for this tank. Can honestly say any new tanks coming to my possession will have sand. I find it easier to clean as well.