neupane00

hey guys, is it ok to have bare bottom on my QT tank?? i just setup my qt tank today with bare bottom and added some rashbora and rummynose tetra in there. but they seem to hangout on the bottom of the tank. and bottom is little reflective cuz its bare bottom and some reflection of light. is that normal? or do i need to put in gravel in my qt tank. pls let me know soon. thanks a lot

Je55*e

I think you can do it either way. A pet store I worked at didn't put gravel in because bacteria and such can hide in there, but also, they didn't care for the tank half as well as most of us would! I have gravel in my QT tank, and I just do a good WC after the new guy goes in the big tank.

ray_sj

There's no harm in having gravel in a QT, but I never use gravel in my quarantine or fry tank. With a bare bottom, I can see if they are pooping properly, how much, and how often. Plus no gravel cleaning means less work.

I've heard of people painting the bottom black to prevent reflections. I just use some dark cardboard. Don't know how tetras would react, but my guppies don't pay any attention to it.

aquarist48

Agreed. It's kind of a personal choice as far as gravel is concerned in a QT.
Ken

peacemaker92

Yeah. I agree. I too have a QT tank which is also bare bottom. It's harder to maintain it myself if it has gravel. And I follow Ray on it, it's easier to see how much they poop without the gravel.