# pea gravel



## cindylou (Oct 22, 2008)

I am setting up my 135 g. and I have been going back and forth about sand or gravel..I think sand looks too hard to take care of..Can I buy pea gravel or river rock like at home depot what they sell for landscaping? :-? :fish: :fish: :fish:


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## howajj (Apr 8, 2009)

i use black sand. every month os so i just vacuum well and reomve a little of the top layer while doing so and thats all the cleaning you need to do with sand but with pebbles you have to wash them cause they get funky


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## cindylou (Oct 22, 2008)

I vacuum the gravel with weekly water changes I have never washed it..Do you actually say take it out too wash? And I use a python, wouldn't sand clog this up and what about the sink drain? And would you put the python down into the sand to get what sinks into it? It seems to me that after a while sand would be filthy or am I looking at this all wrong? I am really afraid of sand because OMG how would you ever get rid of it if you didn't like it? I know so many of you like sand and it does look really nice, but I just have this fear of taking care of it...HELP


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## under_control (Jan 9, 2008)

Sand is EASIER to care for than gravel. IF you have a lot of flow you don't hardly do anything. If you have medium flow you just take the syphon hose and run it near the surface for 25 seconds and you're done. Gravel requires you gravel vac it often and it collects nasty organics...

I'll never have a gravel tank again.


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## cindylou (Oct 22, 2008)

So are you saying that you don't have to dig down into the sand like you do with gravel to clean it? I also heard something about toxic gas pockets building up in the sand if it is not stirred around often...


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## Stickzula (Sep 14, 2007)

> So are you saying that you don't have to dig down into the sand like you do with gravel to clean it? I also heard something about toxic gas pockets building up in the sand if it is not stirred around often...


Due to the density of the sand, waste collects on the top and doesn't sink down into the sand. There is a video in the library that shows how to vac sand. The desnity can also cause gas pockets to form beneath the sand. I haven't had a problem with it yet. I just run my fingers through it about twice a year and it's good to go. If you don't want to use your hand you can buy a rake attachment for an algae scraper handle.

Honestly I think that sand is the way to go. The downside is that you can see the waste on top of the sand, but that is a good motivator to actually do the water change once a week. If the tank looked clean, I would be tempted to leave it go for another week. With gravel the waste is less visible, because it sinks down between the small stones.


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## under_control (Jan 9, 2008)

No, you do NOT dig. You'll just suck up sand...

The gas pockets can be prevented my stirring it with a stick or your hand once every few months. It takes about 10 seconds.


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## cindylou (Oct 22, 2008)

So what you are saying is the poop and rotten food don't go down in the sand the way it does in the gravel...If that is the case then it does seem kind of easier... :thumb:


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## MalawiLover (Sep 12, 2006)

There should not be an food on the substrate. If there is more than your fish can eat, then you are feeding too much. If its becasue it sinks down there before the fish can get it, sand will prevent that. in my opinion that is the biggest problem with gravel all that gunk that filters down contributes to poor water quality.

If you have fish that dig at all, you practically never have to stir it yourself. Every couple of months I fill in all the pits my fish have dug and they start all over again on new ones.

You just move the python (or what ever you use to vacuum) lightly over the sand and the poop is whisked away.

Vacuuming Sand on CichlidTV


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## johnw1 (May 24, 2009)

I have three tanks that all have pea gravel from Home Depot. After trying sand(kept causing my filters to stop working, sand in the magnet for the impeller) a friend of mine told me he was pea gravel. I tried it first in my smaller tank, worked well so I changed my 55 and 90 over as well. Works great looks good and is much cheaper than other substrates. Make sure you wash it WELL before putting it in your tank. I added about a teaspoon of bleach to the water I was washing it with and let it sit for about an hour.. Worked great for ME. :fish: [/img]


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## MalawiLover (Sep 12, 2006)

johnw1 said:


> I have three tanks that all have pea gravel from Home Depot. After trying sand(kept causing my filters to stop working, sand in the magnet for the impeller)


As long as the intake is more than 5-6 inches off the top of the substrate and you are not using ultra fine sand this should not be a problem. I have sand in all 7 of my tanks and have yet to have any make it into the filters.


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## Stickzula (Sep 14, 2007)

MalawiLover said:


> johnw1 said:
> 
> 
> > I have three tanks that all have pea gravel from Home Depot. After trying sand(kept causing my filters to stop working, sand in the magnet for the impeller)
> ...


Another trick is to put a pre filter sponge over the intake strainer. I just use a block of black coarse open cell foam that I bought from Big Al's. It has the added benefit of housing beneifcal bacteria and catching all of the larger particals before the water gets to the main filter. Thus increasing the life of main filter media. It is also reusible. I just rinse mine off every time I do filter maintanience.


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