Sand Vs Gravel

[Rawriie]

Wow, Ive been wondering recently...which one is better for a betta fish? Sand or Gravel? I heard you needed uhh some gravel siphon or whatever, if u had gravel Dx But I mean, for a Betta fish, which one would be better? Can someone help me Dx

[dyhoward]

My opinion is far from professional, but I've always used gravel in my tanks. This is my first betta though, so I don't know if they are different at all. Personally, I find that sand can be a pain, since it can get pulled up when syphilizing out water while cleaning the tank. Scraping wet sand out of a bucket and placing it back in an aquarium just doesn't sound fun to me. Its just much more messy than gravel.

[TigerLily]

I've used both sand and gravel, and I'm not sure that either makes a huge difference to the betta. For what it's worth, I personally prefer sand. It looks better (in my opinion) and it's not difficult to keep clean. If you use a siphon, just be sure you hold the siphon above the sand and it'll pick everything up, there's no need to dig around like you might with gravel.

[Alex09]

Gravel. Less messy, besides I would want to risk getting that in my filter...

[dragonfair]

I've tried the sand. It was beautiful but, for me, very messy. I couldn't deal with as well as the gravel, so I gave it up.

[Rawriie]

Does it get all muddy? And does the water get dirty, like all gross D && Is it easier to get the live-plants to root at the bottom of the tank? `Cause I have had a really bad experience with a Live-Plant the other time D: It wouldnt stay at the bottom, rooted in the gravel like normal live plants would, instead it would jus float up at the top of the water Dx I fail bigtime ;.;