# Sand vs Gravel: Substrate, Bettas, and plants



## praxiss454 (Sep 24, 2018)

Hi folks,
Recently ordered a Fluval Spec V, and I'm planning on doing a low tech planted tank for a betta. I have a few questions as I plan out my tank, hoping some of the experts here can help me out with advice.

1. Sand vs Gravel - Betta's perspective: Do I need to worry about abrasiveness of the substrate from the betta's perspective? Some black gravel is actually crushed up lava rock, and I'm worried it might be jagged and be rough on the fish. Does the fish have a preference between sand and gravel? Is there a black gravel that is a better choice for a betta than the jagged crushed lava rock?

2. Sand vs Gravel - Plant's perspective: Low tech planted tank, so I'll have a few larger background plants like anubias, but I also would really love to establish a carpet or at least some pockets of ground cover. A few plant options I'm considering for the ground cover include s. repens, dwarf baby tears, dwarf hairgrass, or marsilea minuta. Will any of these ground covers spread and work well with sand, or is gravel really preferred? 

3. Sand vs Gravel - filter's perspective. The Fluval Spec V has a pump, but I don't know if inside it has the same kind of plastic magnet driven impeller as HOB type filters. With HOB filters in the past, little grains of sand have gotten in and caused the filter to become very loud. I definitely want to avoid this as it shortens the life of the filter and the sound is annoying. This makes me hesitant to go sand again, but maybe this isn't a worry for the Fluval Spec V because of the design, where the intake is way at the top.

Other notes - I intend to modify the filter on the Spec V to reduce the flow and make it betta friendly, I'm going to seal the lower intake, and I'm going to put a heater in the filter compartment. Not so much looking for tips on any of that kind of stuff, just advice specifically on substrate.


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## Rainbo (Nov 23, 2015)

1. In the past I have not noticed that my betta's have been bothered if I had gravel as a substrate. I've never noticed it being a problem for their fins. If your preference is for gravel and all you are taking into consideration is the betta's health and safety, then gravel should not be a problem.

2. I've had plants in a soil substrate tank, a gravel substrate tank, a small diameter gravel type plant substrate, and sand substrate tanks, out of all of them plants that are root feeders and grow planted in the substrate did best in the soil substrate tank, second best in the sand substrate and fed with root tabs, then in the commercial plant substrate, and they did the least best in the gravel substrate even using root tabs for them. The plants that are water column feeders did well no matter what substrate I used but do like to be fed with a liquid fertilizer. For my plants I prefer sand as soil tends to be messy if you need to move the plants, or plant new ones. 

3. The only time I had a problem with my HOB filters becoming noisy due to my using sand substrate was when I failed to rinse the sand properly. If you did not rinse your sand well, and when you thought it was well rinsed, rinse it again for good measure, that might be why your filter got messed up with it. I was not sure if the sand I used had to be washed so I decided to just add it to the tank then very gently, very carefully so as not to disturb the sand, fill the tank with water. Well my water clouded up with sediment, my filter got clogged with it, and the sediment cloud lasted weeks despite doing water changes and cleaning the filter multiple times. The next time I got sand for one of my tanks I rinsed it over, and over, and over..... then when the water was clear in the container I was rinsing it in I rinsed it some more. When I added it to my tank, and filled the tank with water, the water was clear and my filter stayed clean.


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## praxiss454 (Sep 24, 2018)

Thanks, I am leaning toward sand but didn't know if it would be okay for plants. I think my problem with my last HOB filter was that my Cichlids at the time would stir up the sand, and the intake tube was pretty close to the substrate. But I think the design of the fluval tank makes it pretty unlikely for any sand to get into the filter.


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## praxiss454 (Sep 24, 2018)

Okay, I picked up some sand today. I decided to try the Black Diamond blasting sand from Tractor Supply. $7.99 for a supposedly 50 lb bag. Rinsed a but of it and it cleans up nicely. This really seems like the same stuff as in the much more expensive CaribSea Tahitian Moon Sand. Happy with my purchase. Now I just gotta wait for the tank to arrive.


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## PetLuver (Oct 1, 2018)

praxiss454 said:


> Okay, I picked up some sand today. I decided to try the Black Diamond blasting sand from Tractor Supply. $7.99 for a supposedly 50 lb bag. Rinsed a but of it and it cleans up nicely. This really seems like the same stuff as in the much more expensive CaribSea Tahitian Moon Sand. Happy with my purchase. Now I just gotta wait for the tank to arrive.


Good Luck. I Love my sand. A bit of a pain to clean but at least junk doesn't fall in between the rocks. My Betta Sorority (kind of community) is doing good with the sand. I am not sure about plants in it. I have 2 annubia's on driftwood that look good but nothing planted. I also have some floating plants. I have A lot of silk plants for all the Bettas to hide in. 20 gallon. Cichlids are a Great fish but they Love to mess with the substrate. You shouldn't have any problems with the filter being slower.
Good Luck, Caryn


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

praxiss454 said:


> Okay, I picked up some sand today. I decided to try the Black Diamond blasting sand from Tractor Supply. $7.99 for a supposedly 50 lb bag. Rinsed a but of it and it cleans up nicely. This really seems like the same stuff as in the much more expensive CaribSea Tahitian Moon Sand. Happy with my purchase. Now I just gotta wait for the tank to arrive.


Welcome to the Forum! :wave:

CaribSea Tahitian Moon is what I use and there is no comparison to blasting sand. It does not effect pH, has a sheen, is "soft", is less messy, has additives to help the cycling process and does not have all of the "dust" contained in blasting sand so there is less waste. It is also tested and approved as safe for aquarium use.

I have nothing against blasting sand and a lot of people use it with great success. It just should not be seen as the same thing as CaribSea.

Keep us posted on your progress. I love seeing new planted set-ups!


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## PetLuver (Oct 1, 2018)

I used pool filter sand in ivory and light tan shades, perfect size, perfect color. I did alot of research first. I love it. Inexpensive and perfect. Brightens up whole tank.
The Tahitian is Perfect but expensive if you have a large tank. Very nice though.
Good luck.
Thank you 🙂


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## praxiss454 (Sep 24, 2018)

Thanks for the replies. I used Tahitian Moon Sand in my 55g cichlid tank and loved it, but for this small tank I am trying the blasting sand. It honestly looks the same to me, and supposedly will not buffer or interact with the water chemistry at all. I guess there's one way to find out! Hopefully will have some pics soon. Going to try to find some plants locally and get the tank with plants and substrate set up today.


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