# Sand or Gravel ?



## bsmith (May 6, 2005)

1) I was wondering how bad sand is for your tank, i am getting a new Penguin bio-wheel filter, dont know if you need that info, and was wondering if putting sand in my tank would be all that bad for the filter or not?

2) And if not then which one do you like more (yellow and blue cichlids):
A. black background and white sand
B. blue background and black sand


----------



## j55 (Apr 25, 2005)

black backround, and white sand-1.


----------



## Osiris (Jan 18, 2005)

bsmith said:


> 1) I was wondering how bad sand is for your tank, i am getting a new Penguin bio-wheel filter, dont know if you need that info, and was wondering if putting sand in my tank would be all that bad for the filter or not?
> 
> 2) And if not then which one do you like more (yellow and blue cichlids):
> A. black background and white sand
> B. blue background and black sand


 
Sand is great, looks very nice and easy to clean and doesn't get crummy crap under the pebble stuff like rocks. Dont add the filter til the sand settles that's all you need to worry about.

To bring out the yellow and blue most, you will want a black sand with blue/black background, white will kinda wash out the yellow.


----------



## bsmith (May 6, 2005)

right now i have some blue gravel, it looks really nice under the light, do you think i should just keep the blue gravel and get a some black gravel to mix with it, or just get black sand and a black background? im just afraid that it will make my afra's not noticable, they are light blue and dark blue stripes with yellow on the top. ??


----------



## MiSo (May 3, 2005)

i use black sand in one of my tanks. it looks awesome.
i used to use gravel, and i also have white sand in another tank.

imo, the best one is the black sand. 

i like sand much better than gravel because waste doesn't collect inbetween the gravel. you dont lose as much sand as you think you would when syphoning. i would say you'd lose maybe an ounce of sand, maybe less when cleaning.


----------



## bsmith (May 6, 2005)

so black sand and black background with green plants? not too bad, i think the yellow labs will show up real nice, just not sure about the afras, sinse they are dark and light blue, but we'll see


----------



## osteoporoosi (Jan 27, 2005)

Black substrate is better for the fish, they go shy on white sand.


----------



## bsmith (May 6, 2005)

so do you think black sand, brown driftwood and what color background ? 
for yellow labs (yellow) and afra's (blue on blue stripe with little yellow)


----------



## MiSo (May 3, 2005)

i'm not a fan of backgrounds, but i think brownish rocky background would look pretty nice.


----------



## bsmith (May 6, 2005)

i would like that, but i am trying tro bring out the colors of my fish as much as possible


----------



## Lexus (Jan 19, 2005)

whatever you do dont do red! lol I hate my red gravel but love my black


----------



## bsmith (May 6, 2005)

haha yea i dont much like red, its either
A. black sand and blue background
B. white sand and black background

In A my Afra's will blend into the background sinse they are blue
In B my yellow labs will look bad with white sand

What To Do ? ? ? ?


----------



## Lexus (Jan 19, 2005)

Black with no background, thats what i did


----------



## bsmith (May 6, 2005)

i really want a background, i think it will add to their color
i think your tank looks real nice, i just like them
any suggestion on blue or black for me though ?


----------



## Lexus (Jan 19, 2005)

Black with blue, your zebras wont fade into the background


----------



## ritzgirl34 (Jan 20, 2005)

My labs don't blend in to my sand at all. My afras do blend into the background whenever they're not colored up (plus they're only 1-1.5 inches right now). I had no background, but got sick of that and I put it up on the "plant" side. I'm thinking of flipping it over to just the plain black side instead. The only thing about the "plants" is that it gives more depth.


----------



## bsmith (May 6, 2005)

fo they make a grey or would you think mixing black and some white together along side a black background would look nice ?


----------



## Lexus (Jan 19, 2005)

you really are undecided arnt you


----------



## bsmith (May 6, 2005)

hahaha yea i guess i really am !
i just want a really nice tank that brings a lot of color to my fish


----------



## fishfreaks (Jan 19, 2005)

bsmith said:


> hahaha yea i guess i really am !
> i just want a really nice tank that brings a lot of color to my fish


its more of a personal preference, but i would say the black gravel and blue backround


----------



## fish_doc (Jan 31, 2005)

Mine are mostly natural colors. There are a few blue but those were ones that were given to me with gravel in them.


----------

