Gravel vs sand bottom? Mbuna

[Slammed01]

Hi all!

Looking to get my new tank set up soon. 40B with Penguin 350, aqueon pro 150 heater, Current USA freshwater light. Friend has some fry he wants to give me. Was going to invest in the hth PFS from Ace or Walmart.

Open to gravel reviews/opinions as my kids would prob dig the cool colors offered. Is it at all easier to clean and keep clean? Sand looks clean but prob harder to keep clean . Last FW tank I had was a 55 mbuna about 15 years ago and just gravel vac'd it. SW since the and I had snails and crabs to keep the sandbed clean so may be in over my head thinking FW sand.

Show me some pics!

 

[IHaveAquariums]

So these are some of my tanks, a 36g and a 29g. The 36 has gravel and the 29 sand. (29g decorations are extremely temporary I just havent finalized plans yet) I would say that the sand definitely looks better between the 2. So far my experience with sand is very positive, it isnt all that hard to keep clean I've found just stirring it up and vacuuming out what I can keeps it good looking. However gravel is a heckuva lot easier to vacuum out because it doesn't just suck it all out. Also it ends up almost everywhere because well it's sand haha In the future I think I'll be using sand just because I like the look and it's kinder to bottom dwellers!

 

[TMaier]

I love my sand. I am actually using garnet water filter sand in one tank.

 

[V227]

I use 90% Large grain pool filter gravel mixed with 10% white quartz gravel.

 

[Wy Renegade]

Both gravel and sand have their advantages in a cichlid aquarium, and either will work equally well provided you do the proper maintanence. However if you are considering Mbuna, I would encourage you to reconsider tank size, a 40B really isn't sufficient long term for these fish and you will likely suffer a lot of aggression and fish death as the fry get bigger unless you plan to upsize within the next 6 months or so.

 

[jordanb]

Hi all!

Looking to get my new tank set up soon. 40B with Penguin 350, aqueon pro 150 heater, Current USA freshwater light. Friend has some fry he wants to give me. Was going to invest in the hth PFS from Ace or Walmart.

Open to gravel reviews/opinions as my kids would prob dig the cool colors offered. Is it at all easier to clean and keep clean? Sand looks clean but prob harder to keep clean . Last FW tank I had was a 55 mbuna about 15 years ago and just gravel vac'd it. SW since the and I had snails and crabs to keep the sandbed clean so may be in over my head thinking FW sand.

Show me some pics!

View attachment 304780

Depends on your preference. I switched from white gravel to black sand. The main reason is for the colour change but I noticed the sand was easier for planting.

I just changed my substrate yesterday

 

[Mebbid]

Both gravel and sand have their advantages in a cichlid aquarium, and either will work equally well provided you do the proper maintanence. However if you are considering Mbuna, I would encourage you to reconsider tank size, a 40B really isn't sufficient long term for these fish and you will likely suffer a lot of aggression and fish death as the fry get bigger unless you plan to upsize within the next 6 months or so.

+1 I couldn't agree more.

a 55g tank is generally considered the absolute minimum for a Mbuna tank.

 

[HUKIT]

+1 I couldn't agree more.

a 55g tank is generally considered the absolute minimum for a Mbuna tank.

There are dozens and dozens of mbuna species that can be kept in 40B’s. Pretty much anything in Cynotilapia with a cobue and saulosi being personal favorites and many species of Pseudotropheus even demasoni species tanks that will work quite well too.

To the OP gravel sucks in my opinion, sand is the only susbratate that should be in an aquarium. It looks better and much easier to keep clean the detritus sits on top and doesn’t work itself down. There’s is a reason we don’t use blue gravel and under gravel filters anymore.

 

[Slammed01]

Thank you all and [emoji1362] hukit! I'll get my sand ordered! I had a tang for 10-14 years I'm a 29-90 gallon and was happy and active. Lol

 

[Mebbid]

Having owned a number of cynotilapia in a 55g tank i have to disagree. Even in a 4ft tank they looked too big for the tank and managing ever increasing aggression was a nightmare.

 

[Mebbid]

There's a much higher chance of long term success in Aquaria when you err on the side of caution vs pushing the boundaries on cramming aggressive fish into smaller and smaller tanks.

 

[Wy Renegade]

There are dozens and dozens of mbuna species that can be kept in 40B’s. Pretty much anything in Cynotilapia with a cobue and saulosi being personal favorites and many species of Pseudotropheus even demasoni species tanks that will work quite well too.

To the OP gravel sucks in my opinion, sand is the only susbratate that should be in an aquarium. It looks better and much easier to keep clean the detritus sits on top and doesn’t work itself down. There’s is a reason we don’t use blue gravel and under gravel filters anymore.

Also having personally kept saulosi in both larger and smaller tanks, I'm also going to disagree - I've only had long term success with them in a 100 gallon tank. Every other tank size I attempted eventually resulted in complete loss of all but one dominant male. Additionally with "free fry" whats the likely hood that the fish in question are going to be suitable to a 40B?

I'm also curious with this notion that some aquarium keepers have that substances don't work down into sand - I'd be curious to know how many have actually cleaned the sand out of an aquarium that has been set up long term. I have, and its disgusting. You may not see the stuff settling into sand, but sand is porous just like gravel. Maybe not as porous as gravel, but still porous, and stuff still breaks down and gets into the sand. There is a reason that sand as a substrate grows plants well. So an aquarium with either sand or gravel still faces the same issues with water quality, if you don't have regular cleanings and water changes to maintain water quality, it will suffer long term. The biggest issue with under gravel filters was a failure to maintain them and keep them functioning properly. Eliminating the UGF doesn't solve the underlying problem.