fish tank w/o gravel ?

[newbie40]

I have a 40B. i have a couple of guppies amd some danios zebras.. Do fish need to have gravel ? i would like to clean their waste and uneaten food
so much easier.

 

[aquandrew]

fish dont need gravel its mostly for looks unless you do planted then you need a substrate. there are plenty of people who do bare bottom tanks

 

[AngelFishGirl]

I currently have bare bottom (because of a nitrate crisis caused by my gravel)

I have an older gravel being used in milk carton bottoms cut out for them for my plants. Other than that, bare bottom. I think it works SO MUCH BETTER to clean but then again it's my show off tank so I will be getting sand eventually.

But bare bottom is very nice

 

[Rivercats]

I kept a 20L for over 2 years bare bottom. I had a really cool piece of DW with anubia, java ferns, and bolbitus and really liked the look of the tank. I used it as a grow out tank for very very small angelfish and kept 3 dwarf cory's and a couple oto's.

 

[T1KARMANN]

Some fish do need substrate

I feel a tank is more bio stable with substrate as it holds good Bactria with a large surface area

 

[newbie40]

Thanks guys i apretiate your comments, i just wanted to be sure it wouldnt hurt my fish, i like the look of a bare bottom. And i can clean the fish waste everyday.

 

[Fishieslover]

I suggest getting gravel it helps the fish have a place to sleep and deposit waste. Get a gravel vac too your aquarium will be very clean. And having a bare bottom would make the waste float around everywhere.

 

[Rivercats]

Having a bare bottom doesn't mean you have waste and detris floating around everywhere. I ran one over 2 years and most was removed by the filter and the rest settled into on spot where the current pushed it making it easy to remove.

Also most BB is located in your filter due to the high oxygen flow caused by the water movement though it. While gravel holds a bit it's nothing compared to what your filter holds.

 

[newbie40]

Yeah totaly agree with rivercat. All the waste is pushed to one or two specific spots in the tank.

 

[T1KARMANN]

A bare bottom tank is for a lazy fishkeeper

 

[Crobb]

I have a 40B. i have a couple of guppies amd some danios zebras.. Do fish need to have gravel ? i would like to clean their waste and uneaten food
so much easier.

Go with sand, the poop stays on top and literally you can wave it towards the filter. My water quality is so much better going from gravel to sand.

 

[newbie40]

A bare bottom tank is for a lazy fishkeeper

As people stated before, gravel dont benefit or hurt fish, so basically its just for looks. I think my fish would be healthier and happier with no waste on the tank and even makes my job easier.well i wouldnt call it being lazy but rather being smarter!

 

[newbie40]

Go with sand, the poop stays on top and literally you can wave it towards the filter. My water quality is so much better going from gravel to sand.

yeah i think i like the idea! i will do sand later on. For right now ill have it bare bottom. So i can later compare the two options. Thanks

 

[Rivercats]

A bare bottom tank is for a lazy fishkeeper

This statement is about as wrong as you can get. There are many reasons for bare bottom tanks... breeding tanks, fry and grow out tanks, QT tanks, just to name a few. I ran one for a grow out tank, feeding fish up to 5x daily. In a bare bottom tank that allows you to do that without worry about a build up of detris in the substrate. Bare bottom tanks take as much if not more work to keep them looking good. Hardly what I consider being lazy when the work is the same. I've been in this hobby since the 70's and have ran about every type of tank there is, from bare bottom in the same room as my 220g 100% planted high tech tank. Bare bottom tanks have their place in this hobby too so don't knock what you obviously don't understand.