enough sand?

TrashmanNYC

Do you think 10lbs of sand will be enough for a 20gallon long?
i figured it would be since i only used 20lbs of crushed coral for my 46g bow..........

Thanks....
Robb

fish_4_all

I think 20-50 lbs is gonna be needed for the tank to give you any normal depth. 20 lbs. would fill in to a normal depth where 40+ would allow you to aquascape and allow plenty for plants that need lots of room to take root.

I just put 10 lbs of rive run gravel in one of my tanks and had to add 5 more because it was so small it didn't give a good depth for the fish I want.

If you really just want a little bit of substrate on the bottom then 10 lbs. would be plenty but doesn't give you much to play with and do any kind of scaping. Not to mention no place for any burrowing fish to play.

herefishy

Gravel, should you add plants to the tank, needs to be about 2" deep. By adding more gravel you are able to terrace your aquascape, which gives an added dimension to any aquascape. Terracing, adding wood and rockwork, and live plants give an otherwise mundane tank a breath of life and beauty.

If you add plants to the tank, I would recommend a sustrate call Eco-Complete for planted tanks. I use it ALMOST exclusively now in my planted tanks. A mixture of gravel and laterite may also be used if you decide not to use the Eco-Complete mixture.

As a rule of thumb, there is an axiom of one pound of gravel per gallon of water. I have found that this is usually a bare minimum. I always add more, sometimes double that amount.

TrashmanNYC

that sounds like way too much..........ive read that if you make it too deep it can cause anaerobic pockets underneath unless you keep moving it around...........
this tank will be for a pair of Kribensis and a school of cherry barbs........i wont be doing any live plants as of yet.......and i will just be using some rocks for caves...........

fish_4_all

You can do anything really as long as you provide for the fish. 10 lbs. could be more than enough if you set it up right and do right by the fish. For that matter you could go without substrate if you did it right.

TrashmanNYC

What exactly do you mean?

Robb

fish_4_all

Barbs do not need any substrate and nothing specific in the tank except maybe a fake plant or two.

Kribs if I remember right don't need much specific either accept for a cave but I would not know for sure. I would have to research their specific needs.

All you need to do is make a tnak they can be happy in. For me that means to provide for them and what they will feel comfortable with. I am currently setting up a 10 gallon for Kuhlii loaches and Rasboras/Danios.
The Kuhliis need smallish gravel or sand to burrow into. I wanted to get large gravel so I would have a better chance that the rasboras eggs and fry would survive. So I got small gravel and will likely figure out some way to set up a small seciton with sand so the Kuhliis can play in it. I will also be putting a large number of plants in the tank to try and protect the fry and eggs instead of large gravel.

If the kribs don't need a substrate but needs caves, then give them caves. If they need sandy substrate and caves, then give them sandy sections with a cave. BN plecos only need caves so when I set up for them again I will likely not even put in a substrate as they uproot any plant anyway.

Make a home for your fish, if this means using some enginuity to create small areas for each type of fish then go for it. There is nothing that is set in stone saying you have to have a certain amount of substrate short of what your fish need and what your plants need. Other than that we can do anything we want.

TrashmanNYC

Thanks.......
I just set it up and it looks like plenty enough sand.......i also added some rocks for caves and one flower pot........
do the cherry barbs need some sort of fake plants.......?