Blethly

hi i'm planning a 5 gallon betta tank and i'm using sand for the first time. just wonering if the 1lb per gallon ratio is applicable with sand. i've always used gravel before. i would think its a bit more cause 1 lb of sand takes up less space then 1lb of gravel right? as you can see i'm rather clueless when it comes to sanded aquariums lol. my LFS has black sand that i think would look great with a brightly colored betta. its kinda spendy but i figured for a 5 gallon tank its not gunna be too expensive. also i know its in the wrong forum but any suggestions for plants that would work well in the small space and with a betta would be helpful!! thanks!!

HN1

Check out this link. You can decide how deep you want it based on your own preference.

http://fish.bakerweb.biz/calculators.html

prairielilly

In other posts/threads on this forum it's been recommended to NOT use sand with bettas, as they have a tendency to try to eat it and it can then cause some significant health problems or in a worst case scenario kill them. As with anything there's always exceptions, and some members here DO keep their bettas in tanks with sand and have no issues. If you're really after the colour effect, you could try a black gravel instead.

So far as sand in any tank: I've always read (and used) a rule of thumb of 1.5 lbs of substrate per gallon...I've never seen any distinction for what kind of substrate, but I've also never used sand. What you could do is buy 1 lb per gallon and add it to the tank, see if it's deep enough and if not add some more. I don't think the weight to volume ratio is drastically affected by the grain size...