Sand vs. Gravel & other questions

[DragonFish]

Hi. If anyone read my last post regarding a good cleaning out of the tank and wanting to start fresh, Im down to decisions. Im going to do my shopping tomorrow and I want to know what's best to get.

I want to go all 'natural' with my tank. live plants and such, no plastic decor. I dont want those colored gravels.

my question is, what is best: Sand or natural gravel? (Whatever that gravel is called, Im sure you guys know what I mean).

this is going in a 20 gal tank.

since Im starting fresh, should I wait before adding live plants or that can go in right away?

and does anyone have pics of natural looking tanks? perferably 20 gal so I can get some ideas?

 

[greenmaji]

If your intrested in natural plants I would sugest you check out the planted tank area of this fourm.. loads of information that will help you.

 

[DragonFish]

thank you

 

[Fishyfanatic]

There really isn't a "better" option between the two. It is a personal preference. I prefer sand whereas some prefer gravel. If you do a search on sand vs gravel you will find tons of threads. It seems to be a popular topic lately. LOL

 

[Andyvette]

It seems to be a popular topic lately. LOL

VERY!

On that note though, I went to Home Depot and was going to buy 50 pounds for $6. The employee said he had two bags with holes on one end and sold them to me for 2 for 1 (but when it rang up, I got the whole 100 pounds for $2.88!)
Beat that LFS!!!

 

[donttaptheglass]

On that note, anyone know where I can get black sand for an aquarium?

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Black Beauty Sand. I believe it is sold at Home Depot/Lowes.

 

[greenmaji]

the black sand..
travis has some (its a type of sandblasting sand)
It might be a special order item in your area (Im pretty sure I have to order it from the equipment rental place here in town if I wanted some)

 

[DragonFish]

I saw Black Sand in my LFS earlier. I got the Eco-complete instead. he said its hard to come by in petstores.. so yea, I'd think Home Depot would have it if you clean it well

 

[greenmaji]

the sandblasting black sand is much cheaper (this helps everyone that has bigger tanks )

and if your going for a medium to high light planted tank (even if its a longer term plan).. ecocomplete was the right choise

 

[donttaptheglass]

Yeah, the sandblasting sand is much cheaper, but I've been reading around about it and found a couple things that disturbed me about it. I ended up starting a whole nother thread about it HERE so I didn't take DragonFish's thread too far off track.

I'll be going with the Black Tahitian Moon Sand. $14.95 for 20lbs at the LFS here, but worth it if it isn't going to hurt my fish.

 

[greenmaji]

but worth it if it isn't going to hurt my fish.

If it has hurt someone's fish, I know I have never heard report one. Otherwise I would stear people clear of the stuff.
Have you found a report of someone being able to attribute death or even stress to there fish from using this sand as the substrate in there tank?
People have been useing this since the late 90's so its not like there hasn't been enough time for people to have problems with it.. the first posts to thekrib are from 1997.

 

[donttaptheglass]

Truthfully, the only report of it directly killing the fish that I found is that one from thekrib, but thinking about it, it makes complete sense. A sharp edge substance designed for sandblasting taken internally by something as delicate as a fish . . . .I wouldn't eat it and I sure wouldn't want them too.

I might be way off, it might be great stuff that people have been using for years and I wouldn't have any problem with it . . .but for the expense that goes into putting together and stocking ANY tank, be it FW or SW, the extra $20 on two bags of substrate is worth it to me for safety's sake.

Call me overprotective, I dunno.

 

[greenmaji]

Uhh Ive never seen a fish eat substrate..

I was refering to the chemical properties of it killing or stressing out fish..

 

[donttaptheglass]

Well, no, neither have I, but you have to figure that when they eat food that has settled to the bottom on a substrate that is that small that they are going to pick up a grain or two here and there.

 

[greenmaji]

I still dont remember any fish eating substrate.. that included serious diggers.