# Problems With Black Gravel



## ~Fish Guy~ (Feb 7, 2010)

I have seen a lot of tanks with black gravel that look like the black is wearing off the pebbles. I really wanted to use black gravel in my next tank because it shows off colorful fish the best, but is this a common problem when using painted gravel? Thanks!


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## timbruun (Oct 13, 2009)

Just use black sand. I find sand to be much nicer anyways. I use tahitian moon sand in my tank.


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## ~Fish Guy~ (Feb 7, 2010)

thanks but I'm afraid of sand ruining my filters.


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## White Thunder (Jan 15, 2010)

yeah i have black gravel in one of my tanks.....it does kinda look like its fading....im thinking the next tank will have black sand


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## ~Fish Guy~ (Feb 7, 2010)

thanks white thunder


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## under_control (Jan 9, 2008)

Sand will not ruin your filter if you keep the intake off the sand and if really necessary, a coarse sponge prefilter.

Further, if you have canister filters most do not let sand get to the impeller.


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## ~Fish Guy~ (Feb 7, 2010)

Ok, if I use sand then I have a few questions:

1- How will my live plants do? will the tightly packed sand not let their roots extend freely? how well will they stay anchored?

2- how do I perform substrate cleaning? Do I vacuum sand the same way as gravel?

3- how much do I Need? About the same amount as gravel?


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## White Thunder (Jan 15, 2010)

i think the idea is 2 inches or so deep of sand...so about 1-2 lbs depending on the make of the tank

to clean the sand you take you free hand and swirl the sand around....most of the debries will settle on top of the sand...ill look for the you tube video i watched....

i cant find it...but heres a decent one....

there using the rake to mix up the sand some....


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## White Thunder (Jan 15, 2010)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdahyKdc ... re=related


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## ~Fish Guy~ (Feb 7, 2010)

ok thanks. I will consider it because I realy want black substrate in this tank. Thanks!


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## White Thunder (Jan 15, 2010)

yeah i have white rock in one....black in the other....people seem to really like the black better....










you cant really tell in this pic.....but meh

im going to change it to a black background soon


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## timbruun (Oct 13, 2009)

Sand is very easy to clean. All the debris sits on top and you jsut have to skim over it. Or you can make figure 8 swirls and it will come right up off the sand. My plants do fairly well in sand the roots seem to take off pretty good. You probably don't want too much of a layer of sand or you might get dead spots. I have MTS, malaysian trumpet snails, in 2 of my tanks with sand and they do a great job of cleaning up and keep the sand aireated. While my other tank has no mts but the africans dig like crazy.


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## ~Fish Guy~ (Feb 7, 2010)

Thanks Guys


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## dondosae1 (Nov 30, 2009)

great thread. I have black gravel myself...so far so good.


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## ~Fish Guy~ (Feb 7, 2010)

thanks =] This particular tank that I have has oak trim and an oak stand so I don"t think black will go well with the oak. whats your opinion? I was just going to go with some smooth natural gravel instead.


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## timbruun (Oct 13, 2009)

I'd still stick with the sand. You could get some either play sand or pool filter sand from alot of places for very cheap. I got some play sand for $6 per 20lb bag.


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## ~Fish Guy~ (Feb 7, 2010)

wow, that i pretty cheap, but even cheaper is the three 25 lb bags of natural gravel I already have. thanks anyway though. Man I flip flop around; at first I wanted to use the natural gravel, then black gravel, then black sand, and now back to the natural gravel. sheesh! =]


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## tmds3 (Jan 14, 2010)

~Fish Guy~ said:


> wow, that i pretty cheap, but even cheaper is the three 25 lb bags of natural gravel I already have. thanks anyway though. Man I flip flop around; at first I wanted to use the natural gravel, then black gravel, then black sand, and now back to the natural gravel. sheesh! =]


I did the same flip flop on mine too, so what I did was put natural gravel in my 30 gallon and black sand in my ten gallon, the 30 has been running this way for 2 years and the 10 has been this way about a month, the new 55 is going to get the black sand, what I used was a product called Black Diamond, it is sand blast media and is only $8 for 50lbs. You can find it at Northern Tool or Tractor Supply here in Texas, not sure where in Jersey.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I'm always worried about sand blasting sand that it will be too sharp.


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## CrabbyMatty (Jun 30, 2009)

~Fish Guy~ said:


> thanks =] This particular tank that I have has oak trim and an oak stand so I don"t think black will go well with the oak. whats your opinion? I was just going to go with some smooth natural gravel instead.


I picked up a really nice used 38G that was trimmed in oak with a pine colored stand. I masked off the tank trim, removed the doors and harware and painted everything black, including the back of the tank. I used Florida Crushed Coral and have a colony of yellow Labidochromis in there. The black set up looks awesome and the fish stand out against the black background and surround. It only took about an hour to paint everything and I had the tank up and running the next day.


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## ~Fish Guy~ (Feb 7, 2010)

CrabbyMatty said:


> ~Fish Guy~ said:
> 
> 
> > thanks =] This particular tank that I have has oak trim and an oak stand so I don"t think black will go well with the oak. whats your opinion? I was just going to go with some smooth natural gravel instead.
> ...


thanks for that advice =] I have on old tudor style house with a lot of nice dark stained workwook and hardwoods, and I just don't think the black tank and stand would fit well with my house and decor.


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## Riceburner (Sep 3, 2008)

My main tank has black gravel...had it for about 20 years.


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## ~Fish Guy~ (Feb 7, 2010)

wow, 20 years! that must be quality gravel! :-]


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## Riceburner (Sep 3, 2008)

:lol: ....I made sure to stay away from painted stuff(I hate it). It's actual bits of black rock....no idea what it is though, got it too long ago to remember.


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