gravel and sand question

hulu

Hi guys,

I'm pretty new to the world of keeping fish, so please don't mind my ramblings :D

I used gravel for my current 10 gallon tank and would like to convert sand because I intend on adding cories to the tank in the near future.

I am hoping to perhaps make it so that the tank is part-sand, part-gravel but is this bad for cories? I was thinking I could keep the beneficial bacteria that live in on the gravel while supplying a nice sandy bottom for the cories.

Any advice for this?

nikiwildman

Thats basically what i have done, i am in the process of doing up a new tank and is my first sand substrate, i have about an inche of gravel as underlay, then about 1cm of sand on top, although about 1 quarter of my tank has an extra layer of gravel instead of sand - but that was more a 'cosmetic thing' than a practicle thing. Like i say this is my first sand tank, so i am basically in the same position as you!! But i did lots of research on sand substrates before setting it up, and this is what i found to be the best thing for me! And i also hope to have some corys! So hopefully what we are both doing is correct! Im sure someone with more experience can give you some real advice!

Good luck with the tank!

hulu

Thanks for sharing! I hope all goes well with your tank :)

If you don't mind me asking, if you are going to have an underlay of gravel with sand layered over it, what exactly are you going to do when it comes to cleaning/siphoning out the debris? And would it be harmful to corys if they venture deep enough to the gravel layer, or onto the gravel side of your tank? (btw what size is your tank)?

Sorry for the barrage of questions haha

Byron

Unless you have some sort of barrier between the layers of gravel and sand, they will mix. And although I've never mixed them, I suspect the end result will be like mixing various sized gravel and pebbles, the small sand will be on the bottom and the gravel mainly on the top.

Unless the gravel is rough or sharp-edged, the Corydoras should not have a problem. If you want sand, I would go with just sand, something like the play sand from Home Depot. It is inert (won't change the water chemistry like marine sands and some pool sands, etc.) and dark coloured so it looks natural.

Sand does have its problems; not insurmountable, but you have to take more care in syphoning so as not to syphon up the sand. In another thread here it was mentioned that sand gets sucked into filters and can damage the impeller. Then there is the compaction of sand which is more likely to occur than with gravel. There was a good thread not long ago about sand and maintenance, you should have a read. Can't remember who posted it, but it was good.

Byron.

molliefan09

i actually just switched out my gravel for sand about 3 weeks ago....i completely took the gravel out and replaced it with cichlid sand at the reccomendation of my lfs ( i do not keep cichlids).....it actually looks quite nice and my fish sem to like it too....just be sure and rince the sand VERY well....i made the mistake of not rinsing it and it turned my tank water BLACK for about 72 hours. I removed my fish and put them in a holding tank durring the entire process to help reduce as much stress as possible

hulu

@Byron
Thanks for the info! I'll be sure to do a search for that topic.

@Molliefan09
I'll make sure to rinse the sand thoroughly, thanks for the advice!