Sand or gravel?

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Adrian

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Oct 16, 2011
Messages
15
I want to use black sand for a 20 gallon tank im getting about next week but ive heard it is difficult to clean an it messes up your filter. Would black gravel be better?
 
Sand is definitely better. Easier to maintain (I do NO maintenance on mine, for 5-6 years now). It is cleaner, much more natural, and looks better.
 
good question. I almost went with black sand but opted to add white sand to my already existing gravel. my fish love it especially my bristlenose cat and pleco. do you have plants?
 
Nope i dont have any real plants. Are they better than fake plants? I like fake plants because i dont have to worry about them lol
 
I find that sand got sucked up into my filter and caused my impellers to degrade. But i have stingrays that really stir up the bottom so if you dont have anything to kick up the sand you should not have the same problem.
 
IME all the problems people usually associate with sand has everything to do with the type of sand used, not sand in general. I think the fact that the vast majority of people buy cheapo sands that are not made for aquariums greatly contributes to this problem.
 
Fishguy2727 said:
IME all the problems people usually associate with sand has everything to do with the type of sand used, not sand in general. I think the fact that the vast majority of people buy cheapo sands that are not made for aquariums greatly contributes to this problem.

What kind of sand would u reccomend? Is play sand the cheapo kind?
 
Yes, play sand, pool filter, sand blasting, all cheapo sands. I only use and recommend Estes Marine Sand, which is also known as Stoney River and Ultra Reef. It is very uniform in size, the perfect size, clean, and comes in different colors. I usually use the black and white mixed together, but the all black looks great too. Best of all is that it runs about the same cost as aquarium gravel.
 
Pool filter sand is great for substrate. It just doesn't come in black. I have NEVER nuked a filter from using PFS. It has larger grains than play sand and doesn't get sucked up in filters.

Moved to FW and Brackish- General Discussion.
 
see, now i'm planning on switching my 10gal over to sand tomorrow but some people say pool filter sand and some say aquarium sand.. WHAT TO DO WHAT TO DOOOOOOOO?!?!

i have a hang-on 160gph filter on it so i'm a wee bit worried about sucking up the sand .. it was only 25 bucks though, so its not THAT big a deal lol

anyway, now i'm totally lost on what to do.. def wanna go w/ tan or white but thats the least of my worries lol
 
People with no experience in pool filter sand like to give it a hard time because they 'heard' things about it. I can say that I've got PFS in 2 tanks right now, have had it in several others. Not one bad thing to say about it. Experience > heresay
 
mfdrookie516 said:
People with no experience in pool filter sand like to give it a hard time because they 'heard' things about it. I can say that I've got PFS in 2 tanks right now, have had it in several others. Not one bad thing to say about it. Experience > heresay

Agreed, once you use it, you see how easy it is, it doesn't float around like play sand, cheaper than ” aquarium sands”. I wouldn't ever use anything else.
 
It comes in one ugly color, that alone disqualifies it for me. That color is too light and can cause the colors on fish to wash out. I will continue to use and recommend stuff that is actually made for aquariums. Anyone who has used the sand I recommend and PFS please share.
 
i've used play sand and aquarium sand, no complaints with either. I have also used gravel. I recommend sand over gravel, easier to clean and looks better :)
 
I use PFS used to have natural colored gravel. My fish and inverts are still pretty. Also the color is amazing and gorgeous. It is a matter of opinion but PFS can be just as good.
 
I have play sand in 3 tanks and black quartz sand in another. Personally I don't think it matters. The only difference I found is the play sand took over night to settle and the quartz (from my LFS) took an hour or so. They both took just as long to wash and niether have ever clogged or damaged my filters (HOB, canister, powerheads).
 
It comes in one ugly color, that alone disqualifies it for me. That color is too light and can cause the colors on fish to wash out. I will continue to use and recommend stuff that is actually made for aquariums. Anyone who has used the sand I recommend and PFS please share.

That's a matter of opinion, though. Obviously there are plenty of members here that like the color. I don't doubt that the sand you recommend is great stuff, but to say that it is better and present that opinion as a fact is misleading IMO.

*edit* I have several canister filters for which I have replaced the tubing using tubing that is found at Home Depot. By your rationale, the tubing I use for the canisters must perform in an inferior fashion when compared with the original tubing that came with them, since the original tubing was made for aquarium use. Strangely enough, I find that this is not the case.
 
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That is obviously not what I am saying. Vinyl tubing is vinyl tubing. Sand is a different story.

I have to bring this up every time because otherwise people will only think that the options are cheapo tank sands that are not made for aquariums. People need to know that there are color options that arguably work even better than the best cheapo sands.

And actually 'It comes in an ugly color and that disqualifies it for me' is a fact. If I had left it at 'It only comes in an ugly color', then that is an opinion.
 
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