Sand Or Gravel?

[Sonny Disposition]

Hello again, folks. What's best for a Malawi tank, sand or gravel? Right now, I have some local hardware store pea gravel in the 65 gallon high. I like how it looks, but it does need to be vacuumed once a week or so, because stuff gets between it. I'm thinking about buying some play sand in the local hardware store, and using that instead.

I read somewhere that because the sand particles are so small, this isn't an issue in a tank with a sand bottom. There's also the issue of the fish--I'm really leaning strongly toward keeping an Aulonocara species with Labidochromis caeruleus and read that in the wild, Aulonocara pick inverts out of the sand.

If I stick with the pea gravel, would Aulonocara be ok with it?

What about for Mbuna? Does sand or gravel make a difference with most of those species?

 

[john]

I think that either one would be fine. It just comes down to your personal preference. I used to keep gravel in all of my tanks and then tried sand in one and now they are all sand. I think that sand is easier to keep clean and brings out more natural behavior in the fish because Lake Malawi has sandy bottom.

I have a aulonocara/yellow lab tank with black sand in it and they seem to like it and I feel that the fish look good on this sand.

But like I said it comes down to what "look" you like better in your tank

 

[maddog10]

Either is fine, its a personal preference. However, I have heard play sand is not the best choice. I have a tank with sand from a pool supply store (actually I have five extra 50 pound bags). Most of my Malawi/Tanganyika tanks have either crushed coral or crushed shells for a substrate. I use the substrate to buffer the tanks and maintain the higher pH.

 

[Charlutz]

It's a personal preference. The maintenance isn't any more or less time consuming with either, just different. With sand, you often have to shut down your filters during water changes as it blows all around and can wreak havoc with impellers. You also need good tank circulation as detritus will settle on the sand and look unsightly. But I hate gravel vacuuming. I also like the look of sand and the behavior of my fish with the sand. I use crushed aragonite sand for its buffering ability.

 

[cyradis4]

One word of caution: DON"T use play sand. Get the better sand, with the heavier particles. I LOVE sand bottoms, and I got play sand once. It took....... 2 weeks for the fine particles to settle. The tank causes me tons of headacks. The more expensive aquarium sand, however, settles within minutes. What I think would be best, from my experience, is a sand that is a bit bigger then the aquarium sand but much smaller then fine gravel. Anyone know of any of this?

Later!
Amanda.

 

[longstocking]

I use play sand :tongue0011: And black beauty sand.

But, the reason I use it is that I have sponge filters for the most part so the sand won't eat up the sponge filters :lol: The biggest reason I use it .... it's the finest sand I could get a hold of. Some of the fish I keep like to sift sand through their gills. So the courser stuff can harm their gills. For malawi fish... it won't matter.

I do like the black sand though... you don't have to wash it and Bill gets it for free.

Once I switched to sand... I would never use gravel again. Yes, you can see the poop ! BUT, at least you know when your tank needs a good cleaning.

 

[Tim]

A growing trend in the hobby is to keep bare bottom tanks. It makes cleanup easier.

I prefer sand in my tanks and use silica sand quite frequently. It's a heavier sand and is pretty much dust free.
When using any type of sand with your fish, be careful that it's not too deep. With fish that don't need the sand, featherfins, sandsifters, etc. Deep pockets of sand can build up bad bacteria which will release harmful gasses into the water. An inch to inch and a half is plenty.

Gravel is easier to vacuum and comes in a lot of different shapes and styles. I'd check out some of the tank pages on various sites and see what type of overall look you want to go for.

Remember to share some pictures when your tank is all set up.

Tim

 

[Sonny Disposition]

Thanks, everybody! Tim, where do you get the course, low silica sand? Is it sold in aquarium stores, or hardware stores? (Most of my tanks are bare bottom. The 65 is my on-going attempt to come up with a passable show tank.)

A growing trend in the hobby is to keep bare bottom tanks. It makes cleanup easier.

I prefer sand in my tanks and use silica sand quite frequently. It's a heavier sand and is pretty much dust free.
When using any type of sand with your fish, be careful that it's not too deep. With fish that don't need the sand, featherfins, sandsifters, etc. Deep pockets of sand can build up bad bacteria which will release harmful gasses into the water. An inch to inch and a half is plenty.

Gravel is easier to vacuum and comes in a lot of different shapes and styles. I'd check out some of the tank pages on various sites and see what type of overall look you want to go for.

Remember to share some pictures when your tank is all set up.

Tim[/b]

 

[ltrepeter2000]

Neither.....Use aquasoil and go planted.....couldnt resist the urge.....my vote though would be sand over gravel, black is better looking in my opinion....and the porous rock from the group order looks fantastic with black sand

 

[Tim]

I picked mine up from the local aquarium shop. I do prefer the black sand however. You may want to try someplace that sells sand blasting equipment to see if you can find the black silica.
Tim