Mebbid
Aquarium Advice Addict
I've heard it recited time and time again that sand is cleaner than detritus and after some thought I believe that gravel is actually cleaner than sand in some ways.
The biggest argument against gravel is that it traps detritus which can contribute to higher nutrient levels in the tank. However, that's actually the exact reason why its cleaner than sand.
With a gravel vac its simple to remove the detritus from the gravel. When you do this you keep the locked up nutrients from ever being released into the water column. However, with sand this doesn't happen. In a sand substrate there's nothing to lock the nutrients in so they stay on top of the substrate or getting sucked into the filter directly releasing the trapped nutrients into the water.
Does anyone have any thoughts to add about this?
The biggest argument against gravel is that it traps detritus which can contribute to higher nutrient levels in the tank. However, that's actually the exact reason why its cleaner than sand.
With a gravel vac its simple to remove the detritus from the gravel. When you do this you keep the locked up nutrients from ever being released into the water column. However, with sand this doesn't happen. In a sand substrate there's nothing to lock the nutrients in so they stay on top of the substrate or getting sucked into the filter directly releasing the trapped nutrients into the water.
Does anyone have any thoughts to add about this?