Which is EZer to clean. i want to satisfy my loaches but I cant feel like i cant do that if i have rocks i want to know if it would be worth it to change to sand. I am very lazy on a scale of 1-10 how much harder is it to change to sand. 5 being the same 1 being as ez as lifting a finger 10 being like cleaning out the Gorgia aquarium with a straw.
Thank You
newbe007
Rocks VS Sand
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Rocks VS Sand
My loaches.
-2 hillstreams l -2 clown loaches
-2 tiger loaches l -1 unknown
-1 yo-yo l
-1 poka dot botia l
-2 hillstreams l -2 clown loaches
-2 tiger loaches l -1 unknown
-1 yo-yo l
-1 poka dot botia l
Sand is best 
Depending on the sand you get...
Before putting it in your aquarium, you'll need to sift and clean it.
Transfer your fish temporarily.
Turn off your filters
Drain your tank (save half of the water)
Strip your tank
Put in the sand
Re-decorate your tank
Fill it with water. (use the half you saved and half fresh)
Turn on your filters
Put the fish back.
Depending on the sand you get...
Before putting it in your aquarium, you'll need to sift and clean it.
Transfer your fish temporarily.
Turn off your filters
Drain your tank (save half of the water)
Strip your tank
Put in the sand
Re-decorate your tank
Fill it with water. (use the half you saved and half fresh)
Turn on your filters
Put the fish back.
The easiest for me to clean is fine gravel. About 1/8" to 3/16".
This is heavy enough that is does not go up the gravel vac too far, rarely jams up in the GV, but the GV sifts and drops it very quickly. This fine a gravel is pretty decent for live plants, they will grow rots into it, and the GV does the least disruption to those roots.
Bare bottom, or just one layer of gravel deep is another easy to clean system, but not good for Loaches. Almost all Loaches like burrowing, or moving the substrate around, and with no substrate they are lost. My Dojos hid behind a chunk of driftwood while their tank was bare.
Sand that has been graded so all the particles are the same size is pretty easy to care for. Pool filter sand or blasting sand, 30 mesh is a good size. With uniform pieces the sand does not pack down and create anaerobic spots.
Coarser gravel is harder work. A few pebbles or coarse gravel scattered over the sand looks nice, like a river dropped it there, and each time a vacuum the sand the gravel shows up somewhere else. A whole bottom of coarse gravel is a nightmare to clean.
If your plumbing can accept a Python, or Lee's Ultimate Gravel Vac then maintenance would be easier.
This is heavy enough that is does not go up the gravel vac too far, rarely jams up in the GV, but the GV sifts and drops it very quickly. This fine a gravel is pretty decent for live plants, they will grow rots into it, and the GV does the least disruption to those roots.
Bare bottom, or just one layer of gravel deep is another easy to clean system, but not good for Loaches. Almost all Loaches like burrowing, or moving the substrate around, and with no substrate they are lost. My Dojos hid behind a chunk of driftwood while their tank was bare.
Sand that has been graded so all the particles are the same size is pretty easy to care for. Pool filter sand or blasting sand, 30 mesh is a good size. With uniform pieces the sand does not pack down and create anaerobic spots.
Coarser gravel is harder work. A few pebbles or coarse gravel scattered over the sand looks nice, like a river dropped it there, and each time a vacuum the sand the gravel shows up somewhere else. A whole bottom of coarse gravel is a nightmare to clean.
If your plumbing can accept a Python, or Lee's Ultimate Gravel Vac then maintenance would be easier.
38 tanks, 2 ponds over 4000 liters of water to keep clean and fresh.
Happy fish keeping!
Happy fish keeping!
If you are going to switch from gravel to sand, don't replace it all at once or your tank will crash and your fish will die. The majority of your tanks's biological filter is in the substrate. If you remove it there won't be enough good bacteria to consume the fish waste and the ammonia will spike out of control. Replace your gravel gradually, like 1/4 of it at a time. Do 1/4 and then wait a couple of weeks and do another quarter. Repeat the process until all the gravel has been replaced. It should take about a month. Don't rush it.
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