Sand or Gravel

[danotaylor]

Vinnie this PFS is pretty coarse, is inert, and looks very natural. I love it in my tanks. I use a 24" long gravel vac but still have to be careful not to suck the sand out, as Oxboy said, it just takes a little practice

81dSNx842LL._AC_SL1500_.jpg

[igotgats]

Gravel will bring into play possible long-term consequences.

Can you elaborate on this? I'm in the planning stages for my tank, and keep going back and forth on the sand vs gravel situation as well.

What are these long term consequences for gravel?

[danotaylor]

Gravel tends to trap waste beneath the surface resulting in potential anaerobic build up and increased bacterial counts. These can lead to a rapid decline in water quality and potential disaster for your precious discus. Regular deep gravel vacuuming can mitigate these issues if you're diligent

[peewee1]

Gravel tends to trap waste beneath the surface resulting in potential anaerobic build up and increased bacterial counts. These can lead to a rapid decline in water quality and potential disaster for your precious discus. Regular deep gravel vacuuming can mitigate these issues if you're diligent

You would also notice the trapped waste as brown or green.

[above design]

Hey Vinni,

I totally get your frustration with the bare bottom vs sand/gravel bottom look. I've literally had a bag of pool filter sand in my trunk since March but I just cant do it. Does it look better with a sand/gravel bottom? YES!! The real question is it worth it? More work, more chance of disease, more stress..... or hopefully it's all good.

[fljones3]

+1
Even if you are diligent in cleaning over time, it still builds up. When I took out my gravel (even though cleaning 4-5x a week with my regular WC routine) there was still a lot of debris. I cannot remember how long before I removed the gravel, but I am thinking it was about 9 months.

Gravel tends to trap waste beneath the surface resulting in potential anaerobic build up and increased bacterial counts. These can lead to a rapid decline in water quality and potential disaster for your precious discus. Regular deep gravel vacuuming can mitigate these issues if you're diligent

[Vinni Smith]

Hey Vinni,

I totally get your frustration with the bare bottom vs sand/gravel bottom look. I've literally had a bag of pool filter sand in my trunk since March but I just cant do it. Does it look better with a sand/gravel bottom? YES!! The real question is it worth it? More work, more chance of disease, more stress..... or hopefully it's all good.

Yep. Things are going quite well in the tank and I really don't want to rock the boat on all of that.
I did not go out and buy any substrate yesterday.
I did a big WC and vacuumed the bottom, but i did not do a wipe-down on the bottom.
It is all nice and green right now.
A carpet of green algae, I think would be a nice touch.
Just like what is on the driftwood center piece.

I am just going to think about it more for a few days before making any moves.

[peewee1]

Yep. Things are going quite well in the tank and I really don't want to rock the boat on all of that.
I did not go out and buy any substrate yesterday.
I did a big WC and vacuumed the bottom, but i did not do a wipe-down on the bottom.
It is all nice and green right now.
A carpet of green algae, I think would be a nice touch.
Just like what is on the driftwood center piece.

I am just going to think about it more for a few days before making any moves.

What works with my kids when its time for a break from a few hours of mayhem and destruction is to have them sit down on their hands and not to move for whatever the the allotted time is. They can move for restroom and water but that's it!!

[above design]

Yep. Things are going quite well in the tank and I really don't want to rock the boat on all of that.
I did not go out and buy any substrate yesterday.
I did a big WC and vacuumed the bottom, but i did not do a wipe-down on the bottom.
It is all nice and green right now.
A carpet of green algae, I think would be a nice touch.
Just like what is on the driftwood center piece.

I am just going to think about it more for a few days before making any moves.

Do you have any bushy nose plecos in there? They should be able to clean it up. I've got several in my 90 and there's never any algae build up on the bottom.

Mark

[Vinni Smith]

Do you have any bushy nose plecos in there? They should be able to clean it up. I've got several in my 90 and there's never any algae build up on the bottom.

Mark

I do not but I have been wanting to get some.
DO you have a good source?
Albino, long fin, BN

[above design]

I do not but I have been wanting to get some.
DO you have a good source?
Albino, long fin, BN

Absolutely! Contact Brian (Jeep) here. I was very happy with my order from him. They are healthy and very reasonably priced.

Mark

[Losago1980]

Here's another alternative to sand or gravel that I recently saw in someone's Discus tank that looked surprisingly beautiful: Tile.... that's right floor tile! Like the ones you buy at Home Depot. They cut it to fit and size the bottom of the tank, and they picked the coolest designs. I'm sure there was a whole process of sterializing and cleaning/soaking the tile before they put in the tank (sorry, I didn't ask them), but it looked amazing, it was still super easy to clean and hide all the "stuff"..... I thought it was very creative and practical. It's been in their tanks for years and fish looked healthy.

Has anyone ever done/seem this?

[Losago1980]

Vinnie this PFS is pretty coarse, is inert, and looks very natural. I love it in my tanks. I use a 24" long gravel vac but still have to be careful not to suck the sand out, as Oxboy said, it just takes a little practice

81dSNx842LL._AC_SL1500_.jpg

Daniel,

This is more of a beige color right? not like pure white, correct?.... Do you have a pic how it looks in your tank? I'm debating that as well. Thank you!

[Vinni Smith]

Here's another alternative to sand or gravel that I recently saw in someone's Discus tank that looked surprisingly beautiful: Tile.... that's right floor tile! Like the ones you buy at Home Depot. They cut it to fit and size the bottom of the tank, and they picked the coolest designs. I'm sure there was a whole process of sterializing and cleaning/soaking the tile before they put in the tank (sorry, I didn't ask them), but it looked amazing, it was still super easy to clean and hide all the "stuff"..... I thought it was very creative and practical. It's been in their tanks for years and fish looked healthy.

Has anyone ever done/seem this?

I have seen that in videos.
But one question...
What do you do about the detritus and mulm that gets between and under the tile.
You know some will get down there.

Yes, I have seen it and it can look very good.

[Losago1980]

I have seen that in videos.
But one question...
What do you do about the detritus and mulm that gets between and under the tile.
You know some will get down there.

Yes, I have seen it and it can look very good.

Oh yeah.... I think at the end of the day, no matter what kind of substrate or bottom you choose for your tank, there will be maintenance needed. I don't have tiles myself, so I am the wrong person to ask, but I imagine that you could either seal the tiles in (more of a permanent fix) and put something in between the tiles to glue them together so there's no gaps (glue/silicone?). I'm not sure. I just thought that was a great idea to have a "barebottom tank" that's not completely "bare" or boring.