question on quality of gravel brands

[mikeman]

i have been thinking about changing my gravel from white to black. i have read online a lot of reviews on different gravels. every brand of black gravel seemed to have complaints from everyone that used it, they all say it fades from black to grey and that the black coating chips off clouds the water etc. anyone have any recommendations on a good quality black gravel that they have used that doesnt have these problems ? any advice would be appreciated.

[ScottFish]

I don't know what brand I have, but I've never had any problems with the black gravel I have. We'll see what others have to say.

[Hurriken]

Have you considered sand? Sand blasting sand is black and works very well.

[J.B.]

I've used CaribSea's Tahitian Moon Sand and EcoComplete, both black substrates with no issues at all. In fact, I've still got some of both mixed in with some pool filter sand in one of my tanks and it's just as black today as it was when i got it about 5 years ago.

I've never used the cheap epoxy coated crap the big box stores sell, maybe that's what you've read about.

[Crazygar]

Took the words right out of my mouth JB, Tahitian Moon Sand and EcoComplete make for a great substrate and does wonders if you are considering live plants down the road.

Gary

[mikeman]

thanks for the responses. i have considered the caribsea black sand but also read about sand being very light and clouding the water especially after water changes and about a lot of it being sucked out during water changes. i have always used the cheap coated gravels and have no experience with the sand. even though i know it would be better for my plants i am still hesitant about switching over not just for the expense but the amount of work involved. i have a 75 gallon longand its a lot of substrate to change out and also the risk of disturbing the bio filter of the gravel.can anyone answer the concerns i have? again thanks for the advice.

[Crazygar]

It all depends on "what sand" you want for what application. For growing plants, Flourite Black Sand, EcoComplete are my two top choices in this area. If you don't want rooted plants then go for Tahitian Moon Sand which is wonderful.

What I usually do is put down a layer of Peat first, place my decor and then my nutrient laden substrate. Either way, there will be a cost factor involved.

You can mix in EcoComplete with Tahitian Moon Sand and it will cut down on Costs a bit.

Gary

[lou zello]

never used sand,cept in saltwater.for freshwater I've allways used med or small dark brown gravel available at any store and never had any issues with it.if you look at my photos you will see i don't have any problems growing any kind of plants.i do prefer to use the med size gravel as i think the water flows thru it better.the 55gal now has a mix of white,tan and dark brown med gravel in it and i have the same stuff in the 20gal lobster tank and the plants grow great in both.the 10gal betta tank has purple and blue cause thats what my girls wanted to match the castles and that is small gravel and the baby lobster 10gal has no gravel cause it's a grow out tank just some moss and floating water sprite

[J.B.]

If you're sucking up any substrate, much less sand, in a planted tank, you are doing your water changes incorrectly. There's no need to vacuum your substrate in a planted tank, in fact, it's kind of a bad thing. If you hover just over the substrate while water changing, you'll siphon out the detritus sitting atop the substrate and that's all you need to worry about.

Regarding changing out your substrate and disrupting the filter cycle, the answer is yes, you will disrupt it a little bit, but not enough to worry about it. It's somewhat of a misnomer that you "cycle a tank", you are actually cycling your filter, which is where a majority of your beneficial bacteria colonizes. There is some in the substrate, and that is why you'll have a little bit of a nitrite/ammonia spike after changing the substrate, but do an extra water change and call it a day...no worries.

This is something I posted for another member a while back, on how to change out your substrate. It's really pretty easy, albeit a bit time-consuming.

Here's what you need to do if you want to do this. It's a bit time consuming, but in the end it's all worth it and will not disrupt your fish too much.

• Step 1 - get yourself one of these, this one is about 13gal.


These things are priceless commodities to the fish-keeper and cheap too, usually about $6.00 USD

• Step 2 - Place this container on something lower than your tank, but higher than the floor. It will all make sense when you go to syphon the water from it later.

• Step 3 - Drain the water from your tank into this container until is is full, or at least an inch or two from the top.

• Step 4 - Remove your filter and heater from your tank and place in/on this container and turn back on. You have now effectively created another cycled tank for your fish to live in while you change out your substrate. Obviously you'll need to remove any/all decorations and plants and place them in this container too.

• Step 5 - Relocate your fish to the new temporary container. They will live quite happily in this for an extended period of time.

• Step 6 - Syphon out the remainder of the water. If you'll be mixing the new substrate with the old, leave just enough water to keep your present substrate wet.

• Step 7 - Remove all of the old substrate, using a plastic cup or something to remove it.

• Step 8 - Pour the new, rinsed substrate into the tank and slope down from the back to the front.

• Step 9 - Replace hardscape and re-plant your plants. If some of them have long roots on them, trim them to where they are only an inch or so.

• Step 10 - Partially fill with fresh, dechlorinated water and top up with the matured water from storage container. Ah-hah! Now you know why I said to place the container on something higher than floor level.

• Step 11 - Replace the filter(s) and heater and make sure the temp in the tank is the same or very close to that of the temporary tank.

• Step 11 - Relocate your fish from the temp tank back to the main tank. Done!

[mikeman]

Thanks JB i am definitly leaning towards trying sand now. As i said earlier i wanted black. A ny suggestions on what brand to use as i have heard that some sands actually compact too much which is not good for plants and that some sand is too light allowing plants to keep coming uprooted.

[lou zello]

all the more reason to use a dark med or small size gravel,NO worries about sand!!!!!!!

[Hurriken]

I have been using pool filter sand wince 2006 in two of my Cichlid tanks. Never had compacting at all. I have a rake that I use to turn it over every few months because I heard gas bubbles can form underneath yet I have never seen any gas bubbles. Pool filter sand does not cloud at all. I turn off the filters during water changes because sand does not agree with moving filter parts! Fish that dig or build will like it better. I have heard that sand blasting sand is very similar to pool filter sand.I believe they are both synthetic.

[J.B.]

The black sand-blasting sand works well, and maintains it color. I have it mixed with pool filter sand in one of my tanks right now. Depending on how much of the pool filter sand you use, you can make it a little lighter, so you don't have the pitch blackness of the sand-blasting sand alone. The stuff I used is called Black Diamond and is available in 50lb bags at Tractor Supply for under $10.

This is stuff...


...and here's what it looks like in the tank.

[Crazygar]

Nuff said, this is a wonderful thread actually, loads of great advice contained within!

Gary

[Dutchman]

Darn right!
Another one for "Tricks n Tips"