I have just bought a 210 gallon aquarium and I need to chose gravel for it. I will be putting in Tinfoil Barbs and Featherfin Catfishes, Cory's, Loaches and Dojo's. I want something that stays clean as long as possible. With such messy eaters, should I use gravel or sand? I have a Fluval FX5 which is a good filter. I have not chosen a protein skimmer. If I can avoid it I would like to. But if I have to I will put one in. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
I use a protien skimmer in my FW feeder fish tank because it looks cool and it may help with airation, but I think skimmers are meant for salt water tanks. If you don't have an under gravel filter the Dojos will like the sand.
if fish stir up the sand will sand particles get sucked up into filter and destroy it? iam thinking of using sand with my cichlid setup but this was a concern for me.
Keep the intake relatively high and that shouldn't be a problem. I get sand in some of my filters and they should be able to deal with a little. It would be the impeller (maganite on the propeller) I would worry about, but I think a little sand should blow right by.
I am not too sure about playground sand. I think it would be ok because it doesn't have any contaminants in it. It has to be safe for children. I would just rinse it very well first so there are no really fine particles to cloud up your tank and go into your filer or pump. Just remember if you have any fish that bury themselves, the sand may be sharp and can hurt their faces.
I personally did not want the look of ocean sand. I am thinking about taking some multi-colored sand from a creekbed we have on our property. That way the tank will have a more natural appearance and varying size gravel. I can also choose stones with algae growth. With it, the tank will set up alot quicker. It also will not have fine dust that is likely to get stuck in the filter or the pump impellor.
I've gotten sand from the beach in CA, washed it and it was OK, but I would wonder about parisites and some types of hard to get rid of algae with freshwater sand. I would rinse it very very well as someone said, and then bake it in the oven at say 350-500 degrees. You won't have any good bacteria left, but you can buy good bacteria and you'll know it's free of bad stuff. Why not sand that is covered with synthetic coating? It looks good and that's what they sell at aquarium stores. I've used creek sand for crayfish and minnow tanks when I was young and had to treat for ICK parasites.
I see your point. But what do you think about getting the sand from the creek, putting it in a new tank, treating the tank for ICK then starting the filter back up cycling the tank and adding the fish in a few weeks? My concern is 1. I like the gravel/sand from creekbed. 2 How long would it take me to cook enough sand to fill my 200 gallon tank? 3 Wouldn't it be easier to put in the sand and then treat the tank before any fish get into it? I have brought home moss and plants and snails from this creek before without any ICK. Thanks for the input.
Hey! I used to get all my stuff straight from the creek and ponds. Who knows? All I know is that I introduced a brush algae with a Lilly pad plant from a pond into my tank and it's been a b**ch to get rid of. You could set it all up and see if anyone gets sick. Maybe do some Internet research on stream parasites that affect fish in your area and treat accordingly. Good luck.
