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Do you prefer sand or gravel?

1K views 18 replies 12 participants last post by  thekoimaiden 
#1 ·
Or what would you recommend for my little 1 gal bowl.

I really hate the beads I'm using now shown here



they were such a nuisance when putting the heater in and I suspect that when I go to put decorations in they won't make the plants and such very stable.

Also when I do get the new "flooring" how do I go about switching it without having to "start all over" with the water? Or is there no way to do that?
 
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#4 ·
You could actually stick a java fern in there with no maintenance at all :p they need like no special light, or fertilizer. Or silk plants would work too, I guess it's personal preference.

What do you mean by start all over with the water? In a 1gal, you should change the water 100% 3 times a week. I'd recommend gravel for that tank, just cause you can easily rinse it out. It's really hard to cycle a 1gallon tank, so don't worry about helpful bacteria, that's more a large tank thing. Also, just a suggestion, fill up the tank a little bit more ;)
 
#6 ·
I prefer gravel myself, though i do love how sand looks, especially when a thin layer of natural-colored rocks is sprinkled over it. Makes for a nice natural look. I have a friend whose tank has a substrate set up this way, and with natural plants, it look gorgeous!

ANYWAYS TANGENT!! XD I've never used sand, but I always wonder, you can't use a gravel siphon with it, can you? It seems like it would just get sucked up into the bucket... how does one clean sand?
 
#7 ·
i LOVE the look of sand tanks but i've been having problems with it making my tank cloudy (i guess i'm not too good at pouring the water in gently *facepalm*) so i'm starting to think gravel is still a good way to go. in small tanks like yours i like using the large gems, i bought my cousin a small 2.5g tank kit for christmas and got her different colored gems that matched the colors of the walls in her room and thought it looked nice. if i ever get any more small tanks i'm probably going to opt for that
 
#8 ·
I have both sand and gravel and something in between spread between my three tanks, and whilst sand is easy to care for in my big tank, I think it would be an absolute pain in a small tank where 100% changes are a necessity.

Also, +1 to Olympia - java fern, java moss and anubias are all super easy to take care of (read: they require pretty much no care at all).
 
#9 ·
I think for small tanks gravel is much better. It's the easiest to clean and very forgiving with water pouring. I plan to upgrade my community tank to sand but that is only because I have burrowing fish. Another plus side of gravel to sand is you don't have to worry as much about anoxia in the sediment. If you have sand, you need to have some form of aerators like Malaysian trumpet snails or plants or burrowing fish. Gravel can get anoxic if you don't do a gravel vac once in a while, but it takes a lot of buildup to get there.

Also +1 to the plant idea. Anbias and moss balls have to be the hardiest things in the aquarium industry. I've tried to kill those things and not succeeded. Java fern is a beast, too (once had some survive in a dark room with no lights at all for about 2 months; granted it was barely alive but it came back).
 
#11 ·
I have both. I like the look of sand better, but in small tanks that are not cycled, I would definitely go with gravel. It'll make water changes easier. But sand is gorgeous. And yeah, I don't get what you mean about starting over. Personally, I would clean a 1 gallon 100% water change twice a week.

And Olympia- I'm not totally sure about stirring. I don't really with mine (as my pleco does it for me, haha) It will compact more over time though. You could get trumpet snails. They dig in the sand and aerate it for you. And sand kind of gets sucked up in a siphon. The trick is to keep it a inch or so away so it picks up the waste and not the sand. Not hard to do at all :)
 
#13 ·
I did end up going with sand and will decide if I'm going to keep it or not come the water change day. Right now it is making my water cloudy but hopefully it'll settle and not look cloudy anymore :/.

I've honestly just never liked the look of gravel..

My mom says that the sand will start to smell bad..I'm not sure how true that is and I can't see why it would?..

I used this sand..

CaribSea Aquarium Sand - Fish - Sale - PetSmart
 
#15 ·
Make sure you do stir it. I don't have any burrowing critters - my cories dig around the top layers but don't get down to the bottom, and a betta certainly won't. I stir mine once a week to avoid gas pockets.

Olympia - as long as you hold the gravel vac far enough away, only a tiny amount of sand will get sucked up. :)
 
#16 ·
I like sand or just straight up plant substrate in NPT's and gravel with tanks with no plants. Gravel is kinda messy, but you won't really have to worry about gas build up in your substrate and that's what siphons are for ^.^ With sand and/or plant substrate, the roots of the plants would take care of the problem and sand makes clean up much easier- the main catch is stirring the sand until your plants mature enough to be able to keep gas bubbles out... but yeah, that's my opinion ^.^;
 
#19 ·
Malasyian trumpet snails burrow in the substrate, but they also have a tendency to overpopulate. This would put a lot of ammonia in the water as snails have a heavy bio-load.

I still think you're better off going with gravel. There are black gravels if you like the look of a dark substrate better.
 
#18 ·
I have both, gravel in all my Betta tanks and sand in my 29g community. I'm getting rid of my sand, I really can't stand it. In such a small tank, gravel would be better since you are doing so many water changes. You'd have a cloudy tank every week when you go to do a 100% change. I personally wouldn't put sand in an uncycled tank.

And we did 1 50% and 1 100% change a week, no need of stressing your Betta out with too many water changes. Water that is too clean isn't good for them.
 
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