Sand or Rocks?

[imtotallytanked92]

Hey everyone,

so just a quick question, i have a 30 gallon tank and i want to make it a freshwater tank, but i was thinking of using sand instead of rocks for the bottom... is there any benifits to having sand, or is it just going to be a pain?

all responses welcome =]

 

[Laser]

Some fish prefer sand, but other than that I think it's just up to your personal preference.

 

[Bubbles0oO]

I'd say sand. IMO its Easier to clean. The poo won't get stick under the gravel and stay ontop of the sand. Not obnoxiously but naturally. When you do a gravel vac to have to get every bit of gravel, but the sand you just have to skim the top.

 

[Cecil2010]

i have a 45G with gravel and i have Cichlids that dig huge holes under the ornaments. i asked the same question in another thread and i know from experience that gravel can be a pain to clean but i also heard that sand can be quite difficult to clean as well.

i will also be following this thread...

 

[derail]

Going to follow among as well for dissenting opinions. From what I've heard, depending on your filter, sand can easily messed with it and cause it to burn out, creating a need for new parts or a new filter. Definitely heard it's easier to clean and looks more natural

 

[Cecil2010]

I think as long as you clean the sand really good then you don't have to worry about the filter and by clean it I mean fill a 5 gal bucket 1/4 of the way with sand and the rest with water and move the sand around with your hand to stirr up the finer particles. Then dump out the water and repeat until the water stays clean. Essentially this is what your filter would do but but doing this can be time consuming but it will save your filter.

 

[CherryBarb123]

I would say sand. Having had gravel and sand, I prefer sand. As has already been mentioned, some fish prefer sand to gravel, but generally sand is good. It is easier to keep clean. You just skim over the top with the siphon, and algae doesn't grow on sand. My vote is sand

 

[imtotallytanked92]

response

See thats what i thought. I figured that sand would be good especially like a white sand to make colors pop. But im just worried that because i have no experience with sand that alot can go wrong.

 

[Cecil2010]

Depending on the color of your fish you might want to go with a black sand. Nothing wrong with white both look good but certain colors pop against curtain backgrounds.

 

[Paulcm10]

Hey everyone,

so just a quick question, i have a 30 gallon tank and i want to make it a freshwater tank, but i was thinking of using sand instead of rocks for the bottom... is there any benifits to having sand, or is it just going to be a pain?

all responses welcome =]

most fish actually prefer sand. and depending on what fish you have like corys they prefer sand because sometimes gravel damages their barbells.

also sand is easy to clean and it looks more natural but the only downside to them is if you pick a really fine grain sand it will most likely get sucked in by your filter and it could ruin it. sand that stays at the bottom are pool filter sand and play sand. good luck!

 

[Coursair]

most fish actually prefer sand. and depending on what fish you have like corys they prefer sand because sometimes gravel damages their barbells.

also sand is easy to clean and it looks more natural but the only downside to them is if you pick a really fine grain sand it will most likely get sucked in by your filter and it could ruin it. sand that stays at the bottom are pool filter sand and play sand. good luck!

I put a sponge over my intake.
Make sure intake isn't super low.
Turn off Filter when you work in the tank.

No problems in any of my sand tanks !
I use MTS to aerate my sand.

 

[imtotallytanked92]

Update

So ive looked into putting sand in my aquariums and it seems like there are alot of benifits to sand rather than gravel. something about how there is always alge growing on the rocks and it is benifitial for the ph to have sand. But now i just need to figure out how to clean sand... is it difficult?
this is so frustrating lol

 

[Paulcm10]

I put a sponge over my intake.
Make sure intake isn't super low.
Turn off Filter when you work in the tank.

No problems in any of my sand tanks !
I use MTS to aerate my sand.

that is true. but looks like i might not need a sponge over my intake cause i have a 20g high.
also i do plan on getting some MTS as soon as my tank gets done cycling