1/2 and 1/2 substrates?

[matratzac]

I have a lionhead goldfish, some corys, 2 small flounders, and some white clouds. Right now I have some gravel that covers the bottom of the tank and some fake grass ontop of about 25% of it in one of the corners.
Since I recently got some flounders I wanted to get some sand as well so they can burrow. However, I know sand and goldfish GENERALLY do not mix.

I was thinking of doing something like this:


I-------------------------I
I-------------------------I
I-----------__________I
I__________________I
I__________________I

Kind of a half and half thing with gravel and sand.. I think it might look cool and might end up looking beachy. What do you think?

 

[tbonem91]

couple points...

goldfish are a coldwater fish and should not be housed with tropicals - I would move the goldfish out and leave the rest in

if you do 50/50 it will eventually all mix together - the only way to keep it apart would be to use a physical divider

if you get sand, make sure the pebbles are rounded and not sharp - in addition to being bad for the flounders, sharp sand will also damage the cory's barbells.

 

[tropicfishman]

good points tbonem91 I do think it would look cool and beachy as matratzac mantioned, but it would mix together after a while and you would have a mess, plus doesn't sand have a buffering type ability to raise your PH?

 

[toddnbecka]

Sand won't affect the pH, unless it's Aragonite sand. Mixed with gravel, it will sift through, until the sand is on the bottom, and the gravel on top. It also eats up impellers very quickly if it gets to them.

 

[Cinder]

Just a comment: Flounders are a brackish water fish. Meaning - they need salt in their water to survive for more than a couple of months. If you Google "freshwater flounder" you will find some great sites to give you more information on them.
I'm setting up a 117 gln. tank right now and am going to use both sand and gravel pretty much as you have described. In my research and talking with others who've done it it can work. The negative is that the sand can compact and potentially cause gases to release and kill your fish. Thus you need either Malaysian Trumpet snails or a fish that burrows in the sand to keep the filtration going. Or, as suggested here use something (a coat hanger or knife) and run it through the sand once a week to keep things from compacting.