Pros and cons of bare bottom vs gravel?

[BlackShark11k]

Lupin, you forgot tile!


I'm like the tile evangelist

 

[Lupin]

Never tried tiled setup though so I wouldn't be able to empathize the pros and cons clearly.

 

[zigg]

bubbles123, that's amazing. My next upgrade, I'm totally doing that.

same here. brilliant! its the best of both bare bottom and sand. lol. im doing this to my 40 mabe tomorow

 

[Whynot91]

I'm using sand now, i think its a better option and gravel and bare ..

i'm ok with bare too but i noticed sand adds good bacteria.

 

[Freezekougra]

I think most of it has already been said. But to be fair, I think the "gunk" on gravel may be somewhat beneficial...I know my amazon sword started shooting new leaves in 0.5wpg and a thin layer of gravel. Started dying once I switched to play sand.

With my new 75g, I'm planning on starting barebottom, but will possibly switch substrate if something nice comes along. I'm avoiding play sand again because it's a bit too light IMO. I'll manage with it in my 55g, but not something I would do again

 

[irishfan]

Sand-pain. Bothers me to vacuum and deal w it and fish make it go all over the place, sick of hearing filters sound like crap and cleaning sand out of them. Doesnt interest me at all anymore

Gravel-all I do now. Yeah its a bit of a pain to vacuum but lets be serious how lazy are we? Really not hard at all and again, lets be serious, the combos and different types of gravel available can really look nice.

Barebottom, never tried it. Debating doing it for my midas...the look is not my favorite but who knows.

 

[doviiman]

Sand-pain. Bothers me to vacuum and deal w it and fish make it go all over the place, sick of hearing filters sound like crap and cleaning sand out of them. Doesnt interest me at all anymore

Gravel-all I do now. Yeah its a bit of a pain to vacuum but lets be serious how lazy are we? Really not hard at all and again, lets be serious, the combos and different types of gravel available can really look nice.

Barebottom, never tried it. Debating doing it for my midas...the look is not my favorite but who knows.

I mean come on, really how hard is hard. I have gravel in my 300gal, and by the time I drain 25% of the water the tank is vaccumed, now granted its not every piece of dirt, but at least 75% clean, which is about where you want to be anyway, replace filters and within 1 hours tank is crystal clear again. 1hr process and my saturdays are free again. Sand looks relly nice to, but my fear of killing propellers and pumps keeps me away from it, and bare bottom, just does nto give me that natural aquatic harmony, just my three cents

 

[GhostShrimpMan]

The first pic shows the tempered glass sticker on the inside of the glass, and the paint on the outside. In the second picture,excuse the mess on the right side of the tank. Today is w/c change anyway.

great, definitely what I was looking for!

 

[Brian_Indiana]

I have never considered tile before, but I am thinking that could be interesting.

 

[Convict Cichlids]

i like using gravel because it makes ur tank looks nice and you can use a gravel cleaner and take out the mess