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i've had sand, few problems with air being trapped so i moved to gravel. now in my new tank i want both. decide to have less sand so less chance of problems.

first has anybody done this? problems, fors and againsts??

how do i gravel vac the gravel and not suck up the sand??

i want sides and back gravel with plants in the the front and middle bare sand for the corys to sit and eat. it's about 15g

Any suggestions???

cheers shekoi

www.blooming-brilliant.co.uk

Sand and gravel don't mix.
Rather they do mix, and not in a good way. The sand being smaller will eventually settle to the bottom of the gravel, and unless mixed as is required with a sand tank will develop the anerobic bacteria you had trouble with before.


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Shekoi: Just keep only about 1/2" to 1" of sand on the bottom, and stir it up with your fingers, or any inanimate object once a week.
Or get some good bottom dwellers, or MT's Malaysian Trumpet Snails. So you don't have to worry about the Anarobic Pockets (sp?)

what if i put in rock/wood for example to try any keep the gravel from mixing with the sand. don't want to have just sand as can't mix it well enough when planted as i found out before. i just want one back corner planted now to cover filter. then the rest will be sand and rocks.

www.blooming-brilliant.co.uk

i just wanted to point out that someone else JUST tried this about 2 wks ago if that. they ended up rippign apart the tank and goign all sand because of the agrivation. just wanted you to know what is in store before trying this route and getting to a point you cant turn back.

shekoi, that will work if you use something more conataining than just rocks. What I've done in my 30 and had great success with is using the top part of a cd spindle for the gravel (shultzes aquatic plant soil actually...) and the rest of the tank is filled with sand. I do have MTS, and the few "pots" are planted with the roots filling in to the point of them being rootbound. Then I have rocks around the outside of them so that they almost form terraces in the tank.

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I am also thinking of doing something like that. In my case, I just want a smaller area at the front with sand as a playground for the cories. This will be close to the driftwood under which they usually rest, and will be where they are usually fed. There will only be a relatively small area of sand in an open space without plants. I guess that some of it will end up in the gravel, but there won't be enough to really cause a problem and in the worst case i can vacuum it.

I will also think of something to use as a container for the sand to keep it in place. I'm not sure how I will do it yet, but I am thinking of doing something I read somewhere. Someone covered a styrofoam sheet and covered it with aquarium silicone, and then covered it with gravel. Once the silicone has dried, you peel it off from the styrofoam and you have a silicone/gravel sheet (like the paintings we used to do when we were much much younger, by smearing glue onto a sheet of paper and then spreading sand on top of it) which they used to cover filters and such, but you can use as a divider between the sand and the gravel. I will probably shape it like a bowl or something of that sort and will only put gravel on the margins to make it look natural. This is just an idea and there's still some time before I will actually do it, so I might think of something else, but at the moment it doesn't sound like a bad idea to me.

As for cleaning the gravel, most aquarium vacuums will probably suck the sand out, but in my experience the battery operated vacuums are more gentle and might be perfect for sand. As for anaerobic bacteria, I guess that having the cories digging and playing around will help (I am planning on having a relatively shallow layer of sand) but if I feel it is needed, I will always be able to stir it gently.

If you come up with another solution (or if anybody else already has one), please post it here.

untitled, in your case you might try using the flat saucer or drip tray from an unused flower pot, it'll be shallow enough and you should be able to buy one that's big enough to offer enough space for them to play in, then around the rim and edge you might be able to do the gravel and silicone idea to help hide it.

The best thing when it comes to sand is to keep it shallow, it doens't really need to be much more than an inch or so. Adding MTS to keep it stirred, or doing so by hand (some people will use an unused hair pick and rake it thru the sand) after gently sweeping over just above the substrate with a vac will work quite well.

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Thanks Babel,

I was actually thinking using that, but I wasn't sure whether a clay one would affect on my water parameters or if a plastic one is aquarium safe. I need to research on both, but I'm also trying to think of some safer, more creative and time consuming ideas. I wonder why...