Cordi

i never use gravel for any of my tanks as i see no need to give myself extra work.

if you use gravel all the waste from fish and food settles in the gravel, which means without weekly cleaning it can send your nitrate through the roof.

nothing can settle in sand, only on top of it.. so the filter collects all of it.

does mean filter cleaning more often, but then thats easy and about 1/6 the time it takes to clean gravel and it doesn't make the tank look like you've emptied a while pot of flakes in it whilst cleaning

summersquash

I have gravel in my tank. It hasn't been set up very long, but I think I would like sand. My question is "can I put sand over the top of the gravel?" The gravel is a beige color so it would look alright, but I don't want to mess up my cycle, or hurt my fish.

Stephen 31

Sorry to steal the thread but jonah what do you mean by local pool company? i always assumed when i see people saying that it was shops in the US where people had pools. so since your more local i'm assuming the same products would be available to me.
and on that note, do you know of anywhere that i could get black sand?
sorry again for stealing the thread

JoJo

I thought about going half river rock and half sand, will an external pump get clogged up with sand? and does the sand cloud up and do plants do well in it?. Are there any fish that should have sand in tanks. Sorry about throwing this question here for an old topic but I been thinking about using sand I just dont know how it is or what to do when I will maintain it.

soldieroffortune1974

My question is "can I put sand over the top of the gravel?" You could put the sand over the gravel, but over time the sand will sift down between the gravel anyway, water movement, fish, cleaning will cause the sand to filter down and fill the crevices. It wouldn't hurt anything either way,just make it more difficult to clean.

will an external pump get clogged up with sand? If the inlet tube is too close to the sand, it will suck it up and eventually clog the filter. Keep the filter inlet tube about 4 to 6 inches away from the sand and it wont be a problem.

does the sand cloud up not if it's cleaned properly. You need to wash the dust and debris out of it just like gravel,after that's done, it shouldn't cloud up.Now a lot of current and over zealous fish can stir up the bottom pretty good, but it settles down quickly.

do plants do well in it?. Most aquatic plants will do fine in sand, there's a few that prefer/need clay and gravel but for the most part they do well.

Are there any fish that should have sand in tanks Various fish have their preferences definitely. Most catfish prefer a sandy/muddy bottom. Loaches and other "river fish" prefer sandy bottoms as well, others seem not to mind, sand or gravel, or a combination of the 2.