cognizant

Just wondering what is better for bettas, gravel or marble? or is it a personal preference?

Once I move the cory cat and the scissortail into the 29gallon I will probably turn the 2.5g they are in into another betta tank. Figure I should start planning the setup now.

heartsongsinger

It's preferance. Most people prefer marbles though

Shawnie

I have both im greedy

Martinismommy

I have both also...Depends on the tank and who's in it...With my Veiltails polished rock is fine..With the full tailed boys I use marbles...The problem with marbles is if they drop their food it sinks and they can't get it...It's just a matter of preference I suppose...

pamd

I love the polished rock substrate Karen personally recommended for my new guy. The rocks are about the size of slightly smooshed peas, very smooth, and have a nice bit of sheen in the water. They come in several colors, and I chose black. Stray particles (ahem) mostly stay on top and are easy to clean.

This is not regular gravel, which can be rather sharp and scratchy.

It may be available at PetsMart and/or PetCo, but not here. I found it at Petland. Comes in small 450 g/one-pound packages. Very suitable for a small betta tank, but I don't know if you could get it in larger bulk for a big community tank.

In case anybody is interested, here's a snapshot of the package so you know what to look for:

Attached Images

substrate 018 4x6.jpg (373.3 KB, 7 views)

shellbell4ever

I really prefer the marbles over gravel for my Betta's,I just feel it's smoother for their delicate fins And if anything makes it to the bottom mine will dig for it (LOL)

Red1313

I have gravel in all my tanks. I don't know if it really matters to them. Personally I think that the gravel gives the tank a more natural look and I can get nuteral color gravel (epoxy coated so it's nice and smooth) cheap at wally world.

welshalien

I started out with marbles in my first betta's tank but switched over to gravel. I found that I prefer the more natural look. The marbles were too shiny for my taste. They also tended to trap food (as MM said) and I'm pretty sure that was the start of a nasty algae outbreak I had in that tank. I've had no problem with algae at all since I switched to the gravel.

Kelly

Phinny12

I have both..gravel & Marbles

Lucy

I use small decorative river rock. It looks very natural.

COBettaCouple

The thing to consider is they like to swim around all levels of the tank and will often be dragging those delicate fins along the substrate.. so look at the substrate material and how easily it could snag fins.

That's why I use marbles and check them for any that may have broken weekly when I do the tank cleaning & water change. Even with the coated gravel, you can get broken pieces.

Alessa

I use that "coated" gravel that is very smooth.