To gravel or not to gravel, That's the question

[Kilroy]

Hello everyone..... My first post...

I was wondering if there's an advantage of having gravel in the bottom of your tank (besides giving your tank colour).. Is gravel required/mandatory for the health of the fish.

I would imagine that the tank would stay cleaner if you didn't have gravel in the bottom of the tank collecting left over food, debris, etc...

Any thoughts??

I currently have a 10 gallon tank with 8 guppies (2 males, 6 females) 1 bottom feeder, and 1 Neon

 

[Stradius011]

Gravel is not necessary unless you have fish that like to burrow, but I'd think it'd be boring for the owner and the fish if there weren't any gravel or plants. By the way, you have too many fish in your 10 gallon aquarium.

 

[wolfman21]

I would have gravel in the tank, for decoration. It is not necessary for the health of the fish, but it looks more natural for the fish. Don't need anything too fancy though.

 

[Neville]

hi, welcome to fishlore!!!

i think gravel is absolutely necessary for a tank. without gravel or sand your tank will look like a flower vase!!!! you can't have plants (which is very necessary for a fish; no matter if it is fake or live) without gravel!!! moreover gravel is helpful for the fish too, fish look for food in the gravel. gravel also keeps your tank clean by holding fish poops and other craps.

 

[wolfman21]

You can also have an undergravel filter which will be able to filter out whatever excess food or feces are in the gravel, so it being too dirty isn't that much of an issue.