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How many pounds or Kg or gravel for a 10 gallon tank, I want enough so the bases of the plastic plants are covered easily

A rough train of thought is 1 lb of gravel / gallon...this isn't always true but is pretty good rule of thumb...so to answer your question to easily cover a typical 10 gallon, go with 10 lbs heidi

"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

Once I dumped gravel in the tank without rinsing, rinsing, rinsing first. Won't do that again. Lucky it wasn't stocked & I could do a BIG water change.

Good luck getting the setup looking beautiful and just the way you want it!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~

Justin_1986

The question is how deep and the type of aquscape (varing depths) I would think the minium would be 15-20lb this would give you about a 3ins deep all over without any shaping

Keith

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Keith's suggestion is good for live plants, but for plastic plants, you could get away with a lot less. Like heidi said, 10-15 pounds should do you just fine.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

depth of gravel is only really important concerning the species requirements of the fish you have, the type of filtration you have, anf the type of plants you want to keep plastic or otherwise.the type of gravel you use should not be influenced purely by the plants you have , there are other factors to consider
1)
as concerns plants: plastic plants only need enough gravel to cover them and many plastic plants often have small reservoirs for gravel at the bottom and covering them is only a matter of having gravel a few cms deep, so you can get away with a bare minimum,generally i find that finer gravel is preferable to pea sized gravel as it closes around the bases better, but if you have larger fish you may wish to consider keeping larger sizes of gravel to compensate for digging, plastic plants will not anchor themselves as strongly as a lot of real plants eventually will.Using silicone sealant to glue plastic plants to the bottom of the aquarium is an option when setting up a new tank, but since that can be very difficult to change later, you would have to consider your design for aesthetics carefully.

if you want to keep living plants, especially plants with big root systems like large leaved echinodas for example you will need fine gravel several inches deep, but plants like java moss and some hemianthus only need a minimal depth to root.But as you advance your skills you may eventually wish to use layers of different substrates and obviously the depth tends to increase when you do that. I find that fish generally have less risk of injury when kept with real plants as few of them have the sharp unforgiving edges, fish often interact more freely with living pants, plastic ones are typically ignored and dont seem to offer quite as much mental stimulation to the fish. Living plants also can add the stability of the water quality in your tank, so please consider them. Contrary to most modern aquarists you dont really need to have expensive lights , co2 units or advanced fertilisers to grow plants. Many low light loving plants can be kept without fuss, a decent pet store or another experienced aquarist could help advise you on this.

2) as concerns fish

If you have digging, burrowing species its better to have gravel a few inches deep and bury your plants deeper if you can, often even digging fish will limit their digging to the top inch or two of the substrate.

if you have smaller mostly midwater to upper layer fish you can get by without a layer of gravel at all, many breeders tanks or tanks that have fish that produce a lot of waste can often be left bare to reduce the effort of cleaning the aquaria, but this is a matter of choice, and most people will choose the aesthetics of gravel over a bare tank.

Some fish require specific substrates, some cichlids for example find small rocks and pebbles preferable.With many scavanging fish like corydoras (very useful even in small tanks) for example, you should make an effort to ensure that you choose smooth gravels which protect the soft tissues and organs around the mouth, the loss of which through abrasion would lead to stress and feeding difficulties.This suitability should be your FIRST consideration when choosing gravel types for your tank.

Filtration-

undergravel filtration requires a layer of gravel, of suitable size and depth as recommended by the manufacturer for optimum water flow through the gravel, and generally undergravel filtration is not generally recommended with plants, and even plastic plants depending where they are buried can prevent circulation through areas of the gravel bed , thusly reducing the effectiveness of the filter.

Internal filters and external chambered and canister filters dont rely on the gravel for filtration, so the depth of the gravel is mostly irrelevant,and you have the most scope to change the gravel depth according to the species of fish you have. But you should still consider the benefits of a reasonable layer of gravel, as it concerns how often you are planning to clean the tank, and how active in the gravel layer your fish are.Obviously deep layers that are undisturbed by fish or even yourself regularly can produce gaseous pockets full of harmful bacteria.Detritus from the aquarium is caught in areas between the deep gravel, and as decomposition takes place away from regular water flow without much oxygenation, toxic compounts are formed.Without regular cleaning ,this can lead to ammonia releases into the water at irregular intervals, thus overpowering the filter and poisoning the fish. It is not uncommon for many fish owners to lose their fish even at times when they have actually decided to clean the aquarium gravel, primarily because they release toxins into the water that have building up in the substrate for quite a while.

So basically if your fishes requirements are simple, a 2cm depth of gravel is fine.


If all this is a bit confusing, simply tell us how many fish you have, the species, the size of the tank , type of filtration etc, and im sure we can suggest an optimum solution that is easy to maintain.


as to the question of washing gravel -AWAYS do it- whether it says prewashed or not,just dont take the risk.
It is easy enough to chuck some gravel into a bucket and rinse it with warm tapwater, just put your hand in and swill it around vigourously for a few minutes until all the water coming back out of the bucket runs perfectly clear. Polishes your nails .lol.

make sure that you drain the gravel as much as possible after washing it, as you dont want to add raw tapwater to your tank. Add a small amount of water conditioner to the bucket toward the end of the wash if youre worried, or cant wait for the gravel to drain.

- hope this helps

Dom.




Last edited by Lindy at 25-Aug-2005 07:05

It depends on what you want your substrate to accomplish, if it's just there for asthetic purposes and doesn't nee to hold anything down, then 1/2 inch or less is perfectly fine. If you're planting live plants in the gravel, then you want at least two inches, or more for long rooted plants like crypts and swords.

Hoping that there must be a word for everything I mean...

The unfortunately named 'longhairedgit' above (why on earth did you choose that name? You realise how hard it is to refer to you without it sounding abusive? ) has covered most of the bases in the above posts. However, once the key decision is made to determine the gravel depth desired, calculating the amount required is relatively simple.

Step 1 : Determine the volume that the gravel will occupy. For example, in a 60 cm x 30 cm x 30 cm aquarium, if you want a 4 cm depth, then the volume is (60 x 30 x 4) = 7,200 cm³. Make a note of this, then take your calculator to your LFS, along with a marked measuring jug (the sort that is used tomeasure fluids - it works with aggregates too).

Step 2 : Ask your LFS to weigh out 1 lb of gravel, and pop it in the jug. Note the volume. Say for example the volume is 205 cm³.

Step 3 : Now divide your planned volume (in this case, 7,200 cm&#179 by the volume of 1 lb of gravel (in this case 205 cm&#179, and you get a value of 35.121 or thereabouts. Thus in this case you need a little over 35 lb of gravel.

The calculation can become more intricate if you want a sloping gravel bed, with a shallow depth at the front, and greater depth at the back, but then calculating the volume just involves some high school geometry using triangles. Nothing that should unduly tax the brain!

Enjoy ...


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Try 15 lbs. It is more than the bare minimum but that way you can buy 3 5 lb. bags and make your own color blend. You can also vary the depth of gravel to make a cool effect.

20 Gallon Long:
Aquaclear 300
2 Bolivian Rams, Mikrogeophagus altispinosus: Gumby and Pokey

Hi,
The answer to your origional question is easily computed.
Go to this site: [link=http://www.plantedtank.net/substratecalculator.html]http://www.plantedtank.net/substratecalculator.html" style="COLOR: #FF00FF[/link]

Plug in your numbers and get the instant answer.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

R u sure that site is right because the responses I got where way out of the ballpark.

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I've used that site lots and it seems accurate to me. Much closer than the general rules or guesses

I guess it must work better on large tanks.

"A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man" Simpsons