Gravel vs sand

[Ralphie126]

What are the pros and cons of sand and gravel?

 

[Fishguy2727]

Sand is much more natural, cleaner, and looks better. Gravel traps a lot more debris but is good for large fish that would kick sand up into the filter (fish that are 1' or more) or for cichlid who enjoy spitting sand into the filter.

I only use and recommend Estes Marine Sand (aka Ultra Reef and Stoney River). It is the perfect grain size and extremely uniform. It comes in multiple colors. A darker background and substrate will help make their colors brighter and stand out better.

 

[Demonknight]

I'm not real sure how one could say sand is more "natural" than gravel, most river/streams I've seen are a mixture of mud, gravel, sand and rocks... can't see how a river anywhere would be any different...that said I have a mix in my tank of sand and gravel and it looks good to me, but then I also use a natural colored gravel/sand instead of the "all one color" stuff.

 

[Fishguy2727]

95% of the fish we keep in tanks are from waters that are too slow moving to have gravel as a substrate. They all have sand (or finer: silt, mud, etc.) as a substrate.

 

[Ralphie126]

which would be better for a 40g tank with convicts, and tiger barbs? possibly a small pleco too

 

[Fishguy2727]

I would definitely do sand.

 

[Ralphie126]

Is a substrate really even needed?

 

[meBNme]

I have an undergravel filter. Two plates 23 inches by 23 inches. With 4 power heads. Do they make a course enough sand that i could use it with this setup?

 

[Fishguy2727]

NEEDed? No. Fish can live without a substrate (at least most can). But do you live on bare concrete floors? Only play outside on bare concrete? If so, then yes, bare glass may be best for your fish.

 

[Fishguy2727]

Ditch the UGF and catch up with the 90s. Switch to sand (without UGF) and you will be happier.

 

[tarpon]

It is his personal preference. Some people prefer the older methods.

But yeah i agree sand and a more efficient filter would be better

 

[gabysapha]

I have not tried sand but I would really like to.
The closest I've come to sand is eco-complete, and I am really loving it in relation to gravel! If i had more time to devote to my tanks I would switch them all to a finer gravel or to sand.
Lots of people say sand is best for a reason~

 

[meBNme]

Considering the whole biofilter thing, with the UGF, how is sand better?

 

[tarpon]

I dont think sand works with a UGF....

 

[meBNme]

Sorry, what I meant was, if I were to take out the UGF, and change to sand, how would that affect the biofilter? what are the advantages?

 

[Demonknight]

to use sand you have to either use a hang on tank style filter or a canister filter, both have pluses and negatives, as does any filter you use including the ugf. I have all three in use (three tanks atm) and while I like the look of sand, I'm old and still prefer the ugf and its sucking the left over food and fish poop into the gravel vrs it just sitting on top waiting for me to vac the tank.

 

[Fishguy2727]

I would never use just an UGF (if you managed to get me to use an UGF in the first place). The biolfilter shouldn't be an issue. If you don't have any other type of filter right now you need to add one (whether or not you change to sand). Let it run for at least a couple weeks before you remove the gravel. If you already have another filter you can just remove the gravel and UGF. Feed lightly and be ready to do extra water changes in case it does throw things off.

 

[tarpon]

I dont think its necessary. Just personal preference. Ugfs are the original filter