Gravel or sand????

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lbirath001

Aquarium Advice Freak
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I currently have a 60 gallon freshwater tank with gravel. Ever since I saw a tank with sand I'm really wanting to switch to sand. Opinions please!!!! Pros and cons?

Thanks everyone!
 

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Sand looks nice harder to clean it will suck out the syphon if not carful I made a air vacuum for my silica sand it gives more time to be carful and no water is taken out
 
I have both sand and gravel in different tanks. So far, the gravel has been a lot easier to clean, and looks cleaner, too. With sand, all debris and poop sits on top.
 
I also have both gravel in my daughters 20g and sand in my 70. Sand is great for many things so is gravel.
My questions are

What is your stock?
Planted?

I have black sand and am planted so I don't need to do much vacuuming and really prefer the look
 
I also have both gravel in my daughters 20g and sand in my 70. Sand is great for many things so is gravel.
My questions are

What is your stock?
Planted?

It's artificial plants.
 

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I'm not too familiar with the reedfish, were you thinking about adding some new fish?
 
I agree with cichlids preferring sand. Same thing goes for most bottom dwellers
 
If you're deciding on sand I can give you some great tips to make the conversion easier. But for sure it is some work but once done I think I will be worth it. Also with sand you might think of putting in an easy to care for live plant.
 
If you're deciding on sand I can give you some great tips to make the conversion easier. But for sure it is some work but once done I think I will be worth it. Also with sand you might think of putting in an easy to care for live plant.

Yea please give some tips. What would a live plant do?
 
I'm a huge fan of sand. Though, gravel has it's pros as well. I have sand in my aquarium. If you can get pool filter sand, it's really cheap. I got a bag of 50lbs for like 11 dollars from Ace Hardware. Some places have it cheaper, but I had to order and pick up through Ace because apparently the Oregon Coast isn't a big seller on pool supplies! Haha.

Don't get super fine, and make sure to wash out the sand. You'll get some clouding for awhile even when you rinse it for quite awhile though. Once it clears, it looks fantastic! Easy to clean, just don't siphon right at the sand, hover above it by a few inches. You will suck some up inevitably, but nothing that won't be cheap to replace later.

Gravels easier to clean, but it seems gross faster to me. Maybe the sands texture hides it better? That and no matter how much you clean gravel, when you take it out, you'll see grossness all over the bottom of your tank. Sand doesn't have crevices leading to the bottom.

Live plants are great. They add oxygen to the water, they can be nibbled on if you miss a feeding time for any reason, and they just look fantastic.
 
I'm a huge fan of sand. Though, gravel has it's pros as well. I have sand in my aquarium. If you can get pool filter sand, it's really cheap. I got a bag of 50lbs for like 11 dollars from Ace Hardware. Some places have it cheaper, but I had to order and pick up through Ace because apparently the Oregon Coast isn't a big seller on pool supplies! Haha.

Don't get super fine, and make sure to wash out the sand. You'll get some clouding for awhile even when you rinse it for quite awhile though. Once it clears, it looks fantastic! Easy to clean, just don't siphon right at the sand, hover above it by a few inches. You will suck some up inevitably, but nothing that won't be cheap to replace later.

Gravels easier to clean, but it seems gross faster to me. Maybe the sands texture hides it better? That and no matter how much you clean gravel, when you take it out, you'll see grossness all over the bottom of your tank. Sand doesn't have crevices leading to the bottom.

Live plants are great. They add oxygen to the water, they can be nibbled on if you miss a feeding time for any reason, and they just look fantastic.

Good info. Thanks! I live in south Florida. Sand is every where.
 
So I suggest ether the pool sand or blasting sand.it all depends on what color you want. Here is a pic of my tank with the black sand. My wife actually bought me Tahitian moon aquarium sand, I love it but it is more expensive. The live plants also help filter the water and actually uses the fish waste as fertilizer, I've always been told you actually can stock more with live plants

To actually do the substrate change you will need to net all the fish. I use either a cooler or a large plastic tote. I usually also put the heater and an air stone in since they could be on there for hours or even overnight.

Here is how exactly I would and have done it:

Put all the sand into pillow case (2-3 depending on how much sand) then I use my garden hose and rinse the sand in the pillow case until it runs clear and then for another couple minutes. This is the most important part

Next fill the cooler/tote with aquarium water and net the fish to put in. I usually remove about 50% of the water so it's just like a big pwc. I end up reusing that water when I'm done so I don't vacuum the gravel. If your fish jump make sure to cover. Also make sure your filter media stays wet you don't want the BB to die and have to cycle the tank

Next drain most of the rest of the tank water, remove the gravel and decorations from the tank. I then add the rinsed sand from the pillow cases. Then put the decor and plants in add water at the same temp as tank water (treated I also pretty much fill entire tank)). Add the water slowly as not to stir up the sand too much. Once it is totally settled I remove about as much water as I put in the cooler/tote. I then readd the fish and old tank watet
 

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Help help help!!! I'm removing the gravel and there is all kinds of floating garbage in here. Should I do a complete water change or try to net it all out?
 

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Help help help!!! I'm removing the gravel and there is all kinds of floating garbage in here. Should I do a complete water change or try to net it all out?

Did you already remove the fish? If so how much water did you put them in? I'm not sure if it is possible to net out the garbage. If you have at least 25% if your original water with the fish I would just use that and empty the rest
 
Did you already remove the fish? If so how much water did you put them in? I'm not sure if it is possible to net out the garbage. If you have at least 25% if your original water with the fish I would just use that and empty the rest

I have a 60 gallon tank and I have the fish in about 22 gallons of water
 

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That's perfect I would totally empty the tank then and just use fresh treated water and the water your fish currently are in. You should be good as long as you match the temperature as close as possible. So not only will you change the substrate you'll also get a 66-70% pwc

Post pics when you're done I'm curious how it all turned out
 
That's perfect I would totally empty the tank then and just use fresh treated water and the water your fish currently are in. You should be good as long as you match the temperature as close as possible. So not only will you change the substrate you'll also get a 66-70% pwc

Post pics when you're done I'm curious how it all turned out

What if I can't get treated water
 
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