leduc_fish Posted June 12, 2011 Report Share Posted June 12, 2011 Just wondering, what would be better - gravel or no gravel. I have gravel in my tanks right now and even after vacuuming the gravel and taking 25% of the water that way for a change, there is still a bunch of crap in the gravel. I notice this as I pour the clean water in and inadvertantly stir everything up. I have big fish, oscars, with big poops. So I am wondering if it would be worth it to take out the gravel and let the dirt settle out so I can see it and clean it easier. Thoughts? Wendy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BettaFishMommy Posted June 12, 2011 Report Share Posted June 12, 2011 (edited) i've switched my big guys' tank over to bare bottom, and i find it induces me to do a small water change more often to keep the crap from being visible, lol. i originally had gravel in there, but like your situation, the crud seemed to accumulate much too easily. i switched to sand, but ended up being happier with bare bottom after a few months. another option is to have a thin skim of sand in the tank. you don't want it too deep or else you can end up with black sand (read: rotten sand) and gas pockets. 1/2 inch or so would be a good depth, and when you do water changes, don't stick your gravel vac in the sand, just swirl it a lil bit above and it will create a vortex that sucks the poop up and not the sand. also give the sand a little stir when you do water changes, to ensure those gas pockets don't form. Home Depot sells play sand (Quikrete brand). you have to rinse the heck out of it before you put it in the tank. Edited June 12, 2011 by BettaFishMommy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishGalore Posted June 12, 2011 Report Share Posted June 12, 2011 yeah i really like the bare bottom look and maintaning it is EASY .. now im with fine white sand which is ok too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BettaFishMommy Posted June 13, 2011 Report Share Posted June 13, 2011 (edited) white sand doesn't stay white too long, lol. one thing i found when using sand was that the oscar would get all unruly and boisterous near the tank bottom, sending up big clouds of sand and clouding the tank. now your oscars are still small, so that may not be a concern now, but when they get to the same size as my Gus (about 11 inches including tail), it becomes just a 'bit' of an issue, lol. Edited June 13, 2011 by BettaFishMommy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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