10gal Substrate Depth

[richiestang_78]

I was looking at my small 10gal and realised that substrate really isnt deep enough. I poured it from a leftover bag I had a long time ago and ever since theres only been a small catfish and some snails in there. The tank is cycled for sure and I was just curious if I could remove the fish and snails, place them in a bucket and simply pour some more gravel ontop of the current substrae. The subrate is large rounded pebbles only about 1 inche deep in some spots. I was thinking about pouring some finer gravel on top of that, maybe another 2 inches. Would this be alright? And if so what gravel do you recommend, the only fish going in there will probably be a Betta or some Neons.

 

[TomK2]

I think that you can do this. Adding gravel really can cloud up the water. I found Estes gravel to be the cleanest gravel out there. But if you are careful, I bet most of the cloudiness will settle down in a few hours. After rinsing, I guess I would put the new gravel in a cup or bowl, slowly let the bowl fill with tank water, carefuly lower the bowl to the tank bottom, then slowly empty the grave onto the bottom. All this would be to minimize the junk that would get stirred up into the water.

 

[richiestang_78]

Alright Ill try that. I was thinking of getting some kind of dark substrate as the current are tans and white pebbles. Do you think a small 5 or 10 pound bag would be suficient?

 

[TomK2]

when planning gravel purchase, I usually figure about 1 to 2 pounds per gallon. Thus, 5 to 10 pounds more for your 10 gal seems about right.

 

[severum mama]

I use the Estes gravel in my 20 gallon and 55 gallon. I agree with TomK2 that it's the least dusty and easiest to add. I also had the larger sized pebbles in my 55 gallon, and I took some of them out to mix with the smaller gravel. I didn't have any problems. The color looks natural too. You should be cool with a 5 pound bag.