Sand or Rocks?

[frantic_fish]

I have a 29 gallon tank and it was hit by Ich over the weekend. I lost 2 angel fish and a bala shark. I am going to be removing the rocks tomorrow to clean them thoroughly but I am considering putting sand in instead of rocks. Once I get the Ich cleared up I will also be putting in some Java Fern, duck weed and some Frogbit.

Would sand be a smart way to go or should I stay with the rocks?

Right now I have 2 black skirt tetras, 1 angel fish, 1 pregnant molly and 2 baby mollies plus a bottom eater and snails. I will be adding another angel fish, Bala Shark and a yo-yo loach once the tank is back to normal.

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

I think it comes down to personal preference(including color and cost), there are many options from pool filter sand, to aquatic soils, to specific aquarium substrates for plants.

 

[chris127]

yeah i agree with speed its more of personal preference for the plants you want to grow. but make sure that you get some ferts if you dont get a plant substrate. You can also add Pure Laterite(from any chain pet store) to your gravel to make it more plant friendly.

Plant substrates:
Schultz aquatic soil is at home depot and i dont think it costs too much.
Eco complete isnt as expensive as Flourite and has a nice black color
Flourite is a great substrate
Pool filter sand is nice and white but has no nutrients.

 

[frantic_fish]

Ok thanks. I will look into that tomorrow. This is my first tank so I just wanted to see what works best for other people and get some ideas.

 

[newfound77951]

FWIW, I just set up a tank with Schultz's Aquatic soil and it is very nice and very inexpensive. That said, the plants you're planning on getting won't care what the substrate is because they won't be in it anyway. So I'd go with what looks good to you. PFS looks cool and is the cheapest but does need regular vacuuming.

BTW, and I'm sure you'll hear this from others, but a 29g is way too small for a Bala, never mind the school of them that they really need to feel comfortable.

 

[frantic_fish]

Hmmm. No one ever told me that I needed to have more than one Bala Shark. The fish store said that as long as I only have one of them that it will be fine in a 29g. They said to figure out how big the fish each get and figure an inch per gallon. With what I will have will pretty much max out my tank.

 

[bs6749]

Yo-yo's or any other loach will prefer sand over rocks. Notice the barbels by their mouths? They use those for digging through the sand to find food. Some loaches will also burrow in it.

As far as the rocks go, just put boiling water over them if you are worried about ich. Ich can't tolerate temps over 86 degrees F for very long so you could just raise the tnk temp to 88 for 10 days and run a sponge filter in there for extra oxygen in the water.