Gravel or no?

[LaLaLeyla]

This is a random question. Do you really need gravel for a tank with out a filter?
Im curious c:

[Littlebittyfish]

No, you don't. It's mostly for looks in unfiltered tanks.

[LaLaLeyla]

Originally Posted by Littlebittyfish

No, you don't. It's mostly for looks in unfiltered tanks.

Oh thanks! :D

[betta dude]

i sugjest gravel

[Sakura8]

For a smaller tank, like under 5 gallons:

Gravel
* Looks nice and will keep plants anchored
* Will also cultivate some good bacteria for your tank
* Easy to tell if your betta is constipated or not

Without gravel
* You can easily empty the entire tank without having to worry about gravel; just carry to sink and pour
* You sometimes get a weird fuzzy, slimy film on the bottom of your tank
* Unless your plants have weighted bases, it's hard to keep them from floating up

[Tikibirds]

It's pretty much just a personal preference for uncycled tanks. I like gravel cause it looks nice but I hate it when changing water...I dont think my syphon actually cleans the gravel.

[missm83]

i prefer gravel... and my boy loves to lay on it . and it keeps my plants from flouting up.. but i think its up to you

[LaLaLeyla]

I know I hating cleaning my gravel too x.x
But Im just gonna stick to it now because it looks cool xD

[Thunderloon]

In just about any tank you need some kind of convoluted surface at the bottom to stop poop and food waste from swirling about. The rough sponge used as bio-media/pre-filter cut to fit the bottom of a tank would work just as well as rocks.

Marineland sells a pair about 7 inches square for around 9 bucks and the larger one designed for the C-530 is very big and not all that much more expensive. They're both black.

I'm sure other places can provide sheets of this material as well.

[DazzleKitty]

The worst part of gravel is that it's a huge pain the rear to clean. It actually kinda grosses me out to clean for some reason. Maybe it's because of all the poop stuck in it, lol.

But it looks so pretty and it comes in lots of nice colors.

But you could also use those gem thingies or half-marble looking things for the bottom of hte tank. I see a lot of people use those as a floor and they really look pretty.

I personally like something on the bottom of the tank. It looks bare adn boring without it, IMO.