# sand or gravel



## barty boy (Aug 25, 2009)

hey ppl iwas wondering if you could settle a arguement with me and my partner
she belives if i put sand substrate in out tank it will get gassy and kill all our fish 
is she rite ?


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

that could very easily happen..sand gets packed down and deadly gas pockets develop...
if you get some malaysian trumpet snails ; they will aerate the sand and help to keep the gas pockets from forming. and the nice thing about MTS is that they will not bother your plants..they are actually beneficial to the plants


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## OCtrackiepacsg1 (Oct 18, 2009)

I heard that huge bubbles can come out and you need to stir that sand often or else the bubbles may kill your fish when it come to sand


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## bmlbytes (Aug 1, 2009)

I use sand in almost all of my aquariums. It is a good substrate. Fish like to push it around and dig in it. Plants grow well in it in the tanks that dont have digging fish. It is also a nice natural look for a fish tank. 

Poisonous gases can build up when dead animal or vegtible matter get trapped under the sand. It decomposes and can create harmful gases. I have a rake for my sand that I bought at Petco. It allows me to sift through the sand very easily. You could also get digging fish or as loha pointed out, trumpet snails.

To be honest, the little bit of sifting you do is really worth it for the nice look it offers. I sift it when I do my water changes, and have had no problems with it yet.


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## barty boy (Aug 25, 2009)

well i already have a 8 inch pleco a syndontis catfish and a albino ruby shark that are allways digging would they help
i really wants sand buut my girlfriend is worried 
a dont think snails would stay in my tank as its open top
i used 2 have a goby lookin fish shouldiget another 1 of them 2 help?


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## StripesAndFins (Dec 31, 2008)

how big is the tank?


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## barty boy (Aug 25, 2009)

30 gal y would that make a difference


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## StripesAndFins (Dec 31, 2008)

well depending on the size, the "goby thing" moy or may not fit with the current fish you have.


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## bmlbytes (Aug 1, 2009)

I think the digging fish will help. If you are worried about it, get the rake from petco and just rake the sand once in a while.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

MTS will not crawl out of the tank..mystery snails will....get a rake or get some MTS..


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## barty boy (Aug 25, 2009)

cheers ppl advice really helped 
i gettin a new bigger tank after christmas tho so ill wait till then


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## jones57742 (Sep 8, 2007)

bmlbytes said:


> ... It is also a nice natural look for a fish tank.
> 
> To be honest, the little bit of sifting you do is really worth it for the nice look it offers. I sift it when I do my water changes, and have had no problems with it yet.


Yes: some sands are very, very pretty but my experience (limited) with sand in a planted tank is that they are a real pain due to bottom cleaning whereas 1/2" aggregate is no problem at all.

IMHO the less maintenance problems the more likely one is to remain a fish-keeper and enjoy their fish and plants.

TR


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## hXcChic22 (Dec 26, 2009)

We have a Violet Dragon Goby in our 20 Long Tank (that has a sand substrate) and he absolutely loves it! When we had him in a 29 tank with gravel, he never came out of his log. Now, he swims around and digs out under the decorations and builds little "walls" in front of the openings. And we have several loaches that sift through the sand too.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

IMO sand is more work for the fishkeeper than gravel is. For a new fishkeeper, I would suggest starting with gravel in a first tank. There are risks with sand, like the dreaded 'anaerobic pockets' and it getting into your filter and grinding the impeller down. However I know lots of people who have sand in tanks and love the natural look and how the fish interact with it. Some fish like Geophagus sift sand to find food in the wild and you won't ever see their natural behavior in a tank without sand.


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## Guest (Dec 27, 2009)

My first tank I started with sand and I love it. I have had gravel tanks and switched them to sand and the fish seem to enjoy sand a lot more.

Especially when my brother changed his 55 over to sand, he just threw down some rocks and his malawi cichlids dug out the sand to make their own home. It was really neat to watch and the fish seemed to like it, it was like they were happy because for once they had something to do haha.

Cleaning the sand can be a pain, and there are problems with it that have been mentioned in this thread, but I don't think I'll ever go back to gravel.

With gravel any visible poops and dirt works its way in and is not as visible (hence the siphon attachment tube for cleaning it), where as with sand it settles on top. But overall the sand looks much better IMO.

I don't look at my tanks as maintenance problems. To me, any extra work needed to have a sand aquarium is well worth it when you look at the final product, which is a nicer, more natural looking tank in some cases, along with improved fish happiness.


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