[WildKat]

Hi guys, I recently bought a 10g to split for two male bettas and am slowing acquiring all the things needed for it, I love the look of sand in tanks, but I am worried my bettas (and friends) may not do well in sand.. so this is what I am wondering about...
will bettas eat the sand? if they do is it bad? and do snails, shrimp, frogs, cory catfish (and bottom feeders like them) do okay with sand or should I just stick to gravel?

Thanks

 

[Reccka]

Your betta might give the sand a taste at first, but they won't usually eat it. Mine all tasted it and spit it out. I can't say for sure about your other tankmates, but I want to say they also do better in sand IIRC.

I'm personally glad I switched to sand. I find it to be easier than gravel. But it's apparently an "either you love it or you hate it" sort of thing.

 

[WildKat]

Your betta might give the sand a taste at first, but they won't usually eat it. Mine all tasted it and spit it out. I can't say for sure about your other tankmates, but I want to say they also do better in sand IIRC.

I'm personally glad I switched to sand. I find it to be easier than gravel. But it's apparently an "either you love it or you hate it" sort of thing.

How is it when it comes to cleaning? I've heard it sucks, and I've heard its better then gravel, but I don't know what to believe!

 

[Crossroads]

Cories definitely do better in sand. Gravel can hurt their barbels which can lead to infection if anything goes wrong. I have two tanks with sand and both are just fine. In my opinion sand is a bit easier to clean since most large stuff stays to the top where it is easily sucked up. Just hold the vac a little above the sand and swirl it. You might pick up some sand but the swirling will kick up the debris. Sand also doesn't tend to clog airline hoses like gravel. I've never had issues with any of my girls or guys eating the sand and swallowing it. I have a King who would pick his food off the floor and spit up the sand.

 

[Reccka]

+1
It's much easier to clean than it sounded. I do the method above. I just hold the vacuum a little above the sand and it cleans up nicely.

 

[MikeG14]

I suggest using the search function. There you will find all of the pro's & cons of using sand in your aquarium.

 

[RussellTheShihTzu]

If you're planning on putting all those critters in what is essentially two five-gallon aquariums you are seriously overstocking (i.e., not enough swimming room) as you should have least six Cories and two frogs on each side. According to scientific studies and experience they require those numbers to maintain long-term health. Frogs are very social and interact with each other a great deal and shoaling fish need to feel secure in their environment. A lot of people get by with less but I liken fewer than six shoaling species to having a "herd" of one or two horses in cougar country. ;-)

When I had a divided 10, I split it 7:3 with 7 gallons on one side for a Betta, two ADF and some Endlers hybrids and three gallons on the other for just one Betta. I filtered both sides. Wasn't symmetrical but it worked. And I alternated the Betta so that each one had time in the larger side.

As far as sand vs. gravel? I'm with MikeG14: You'll get a lot more information if you use the Search functioin.

 

[WildKat]

If you're planning on putting all those critters in what is essentially two five-gallon aquariums you are seriously overstocking (i.e., not enough swimming room) as you should have least six Cories and two frogs on each side. According to scientific studies and experience they require those numbers to maintain long-term health. Frogs are very social and interact with each other a great deal and shoaling fish need to feel secure in their environment. A lot of people get by with less but I liken fewer than six shoaling species to having a "herd" of one or two horses in cougar country. ;-)

When I had a divided 10, I split it 7:3 with 7 gallons on one side for a Betta, two ADF and some Endlers hybrids and three gallons on the other for just one Betta. I filtered both sides. Wasn't symmetrical but it worked. And I alternated the Betta so that each one had time in the larger side.

As far as sand vs. gravel? I'm with MikeG14: You'll get a lot more information if you use the Search functioin.

I am aware on how many cories and frogs need to be together in order to be happy, I am not saying I am going to put all these animals in one tank, this is really just a future thought, and I want to make sure that if I do put cories or frogs in this tank or any future tank with sand that they will be okay! thanks for the input though.

And I did try to search but I couldn't find anything useful, hence I started my own thread.

 

[Crossroads]

I was going to say that the search function isn't the most helpful with less frequent topics. I tried looking up stuff for an old betta for a friend and the search kicked out the old almost every time. When I did a tag search I maybe found 3 posts, none of which were very useful to what I was looking for. So searching old betta gives you results for "betta", old fish gives you "fish" and old age gives you nothing. While I agree that the search function can and should be used for finrot and such common ailments like that, its almost useless for more obscure topics. Maybe I'm missing the secret to searching but the search function has yet to help me.

 

[kjg1029]

I like my sand, it looks better and IMO looks more natrual, and waste usualy sits ontop, so you don't need to stir it around with the syphon, just clean off the top.

 

[aselvarial]

I find sand easier. like kjg1029 said, the waste just sits on top, unlike gravel. It's a tiny bit messier when doing a gravel vac, but it always settles back down within a few minutes. Plus, I think if you have snails or anything with long barbells or feelers in the future, sand is much easier on them than gravel.

 

[RussellTheShihTzu]

I am aware on how many cories and frogs need to be together in order to be happy, I am not saying I am going to put all these animals in one tank, this is really just a future thought, and I want to make sure that if I do put cories or frogs in this tank or any future tank with sand that they will be okay! thanks for the input though.

And I did try to search but I couldn't find anything useful, hence I started my own thread.

I appreciate that you know the numbers but there's no way for those who respond to know a person's depth of knowledge. So I reply as if the OP is starting from Square 1 and also to help those lurkers who are at Square 1. ;-)

I have sand in all of my tanks. The 20 has Cories and the 10 has ADF. I find it much easier to clean. I use a piece of airline tubing so I can get into the plants without disrupting them.

 

[Hallyx]

I know what you mean, Crossroads.

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