Sand or gravel?

Janmitch22 · October 18th, 2005

I'm thinking about getting a 20 gal. in a month or two so I can put all of my clowns and the pleco together, and possibly with some dither fish. Just a stop on the journey up to my 100 gallon! I've never had substrate in my tanks yet because I was advised to hold off on it when I first started "fishing".
What do y'all recommend for substrate? I've heard good things about both sand and gravel. Sand will help with the pleco poop, whereas gravel makes vacuuming easier. Whichever one I choose, I want brown or black as the color.

Butterfly · October 18th, 2005

I have gravel, sand and eco-complete in various tanks. The sand is easy to clean since you just have to wave the vacuum over it and all the debris floats up and you suck it (trash) out. the gravel tends to let things fall down between the pieces and so is vacuumed more vigorously, The eco-complete is black and is good for live plants and is vacuumed similiar to the sand. All are good options and there are lots more. Hope that helps.
Carol

Dino · October 18th, 2005

If you choose sand, make sure the grains are smooth.
Sharp edged grains will lead to you fish being cut.

Dino

Butterfly · October 19th, 2005

Yep, play sand, pool sand and..... I know theres another but can't think of it. :

Carol

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