# BARE BOTTOM or GRAVEL ??



## gahcrazy (Aug 25, 2009)

Hi there everybody! ToDay I had to pull my male bettas from their large tanks, do to the gravel, at least thats the only answer that fits the circumstance. So after howerver long it takes to heal up thier fins (or as long as i can stand their sad, sad looks) , i wonder if a bare bottom or gravel substrate would be best. I know that all gravel is not created equal. So I ask those of u that would like to give thier ideals on this subject a voice, to please do so! and thanks....:dunno:


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## AngelicScars (May 5, 2009)

I prefer river rocks personally. They are larger and easier to clean.


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

I don't understand (sorry).. why did you have to take your fish out?

I have gravel in my tanks but ideally I would do eco complete or sand. I've never had a single problem with the gravel.

The problem with having a bare bottom is it makes it harder to hold a cycle.. most of your bacteria from the cycle lives in the substrate (as well as the filter, decorations, and walls of the tank).


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## BettaxFishxCrazy (Sep 5, 2009)

I just like the look of rocks in my tank, but some people just leave the bottoms bare.


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## DragonFish (Mar 31, 2009)

If we're talking about a cycled tank I personally prefer gravel, never tried sand(though I've been thinking about it for a while...)so I can't comment there. Bare bottom is easier to keep clean however, but gravel makes it look a little better. Its really just personal preference there.

However, if we're talking about an uncycled tank(one where your doing frequent 100% WCs), then you'd probably be better off going with those larger marbles, the river rocks, or just bare bottom. Its REALLY a pain to clean gravel every time to do a WC, not to mention at least a few pieces slip out and go down the drain each time(at least thats what happens to me, maybe I'm just special....). Again though, its all personal preference really. Each substrate(or lack of....)has its pluses and minuses, in the end it comes down to what you think looks nice.

Though, I must admit I am a little confused as well ; There really is no way for gravel to harm a bettas fins.....


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## Jupiter (Aug 30, 2009)

It's all personal preference. Bare bottomed tanks are easier to clean, and I don't mind the look of them. But if you want to cycle your tank, it's better to have gravel at the bottom.


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

DragonFish said:


> If we're talking about a cycled tank I personally prefer gravel, never tried sand(though I've been thinking about it for a while...)so I can't comment there. Bare bottom is easier to keep clean however, but gravel makes it look a little better. Its really just personal preference there.
> 
> However, if we're talking about an uncycled tank(one where your doing frequent 100% WCs), then you'd probably be better off going with those larger marbles, the river rocks, or just bare bottom.* Its REALLY a pain to clean gravel every time to do a WC, not to mention at least a few pieces slip out and go down the drain each time(at least thats what happens to me, maybe I'm just special....).* Again though, its all personal preference really. Each substrate(or lack of....)has its pluses and minuses, in the end it comes down to what you think looks nice.
> 
> Though, I must admit I am a little confused as well ; There really is no way for gravel to harm a bettas fins.....


Try using one of these









you can get them from the dollar store so they're definitely cheap and no gravel gets through. I rinse a little at a time then set it on a paper towel and rinse some more until all of its clean.


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## AngelicScars (May 5, 2009)

The river rocks I use don't slip through. That's what's great about them! :-D


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## DragonFish (Mar 31, 2009)

1fish2fish said:


> Try using one of these
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yeah....those don't really help me much. I'm too clumsy, I loose pieces anyway xDD Takes to long to get the gravel clean anyway, no matter how I do it...I just personally think its easier and more time-efficient to have marbles or bare bottom in an uncycled tank...then again, this also boils down to personal preference xD :lol: Haha.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I use gems in mine. I used gravel for awhile but it was too hard to clean and the finer pieces went right through my strainer. I'm still picking up pieces from my bathroom floor.


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## MollyJean (Dec 29, 2009)

I have a combo of gravel with river rocks scattered on top, but it's just for looks. And I always put a plastic bag in the sink to catch bits that fall, cause I refuse to clean out the trap if too much goes down the drain, lol

I've never heard of gravel ripping fins before, is that what you think happened?


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I've got gravel down my drain, too. lol


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

DragonFish said:


> Yeah....those don't really help me much. I'm too clumsy, I loose pieces anyway xDD Takes to long to get the gravel clean anyway, no matter how I do it...I just personally think its easier and more time-efficient to have marbles or bare bottom in an uncycled tank...then again, this also boils down to personal preference xD :lol: Haha.



LOL thats why I have all cycled tanks now.. no more convoluted gravel cleaning!!!!


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## DragonFish (Mar 31, 2009)

lol xD All my tanks but three are cycled, and the only one with gravel is my moms....so I have zero say in the matter of what substrate is in that tank, yet I have to clean it ^^;


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## gahcrazy (Aug 25, 2009)

The reason i think it's the substrste that i'm using is because out of the three tanks i have going right now, two of them have this river rocks or whatever you call them and the three males all have fin issues. I have one male with diffrent grave and his fins are fine! note that for whatever reason my 4 male bettas enjoy swimming on the bottom (searching i guess) . My male with a difrent gravel substrate has no fin issues. so thats preaty much the reason i think it's the river rocks or pebbles that i'm using. so anyhow, was just wondering what others thought about the use of gravel or not. Thanks for the imput everyone. I guess that once the fins are all healed i will have to decide one whats best for the fishies. :hmm:


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## vaygirl (Sep 10, 2009)

They do hunt along the bottom. Mine does it all day. I have river rocks too. I have large ones and smaller ones to fill in the holes so my cory pellets don't disappear into a chasm. I don't have any problem with them. Tango tears his fins on my driftwood fairly often because he insists on shoving himself into crazy positions while hunting but it always grows right back. What kind of fin issues are you seeing exactly? Is it tearing or like, melting?


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## gahcrazy (Aug 25, 2009)

it's seems to be a sort of tearing. like if you were to drag a cloth on the ground all day for extended periods of time.


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## MollyJean (Dec 29, 2009)

Well river rocks are the smooth round ones, I don't see anything getting ripped on those, ever. Normal aquarium gravel is fairly fine, but I guess if they where down there a lot and dragging fins on the ground a lot, they might rip something.. in more then 1 fish though.. I don't see that happening.

I think you should look for another cause for the rips.


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## gahcrazy (Aug 25, 2009)

you know i've checked everything like nitrites, nitrates, ammionia temp. I know it sounds crazy to me also, i'm just going to see how well and how fast they heal up out of those conditions. the strange thing is that my female in a divided tank with 2 of the males is not effected at all. ? go figure


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## vaygirl (Sep 10, 2009)

Well, if you'd ever seen the crazy positions mine gets in... I've found him upside down trying to shove his face in a hole in the gravel looking for goodies. Some of my river rocks are angular vs. round and I guess if he got himself contorted enough, he might get his fin caught between two rocks? I assumed it was the driftwood but it might be a combo of the rocks and the decor kinda pincering his tail when he's doing somersaults while hunting. Maybe that's the case with yours?


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## puppyrjjkm (Aug 2, 2009)

If you wanted a bare bottom you could always spray paint the bottom (the outside of course) so it doesn't look just "see through". There is a website on how to do it, and it looks pretty cool. I think a grainy/tan paint would look best, almost like sand. I will probably do this for my future fry tank. Just an idea


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## Jupiter (Aug 30, 2009)

puppyrjjkm said:


> If you wanted a bare bottom you could always spray paint the bottom (the outside of course) so it doesn't look just "see through". There is a website on how to do it, and it looks pretty cool. I think a grainy/tan paint would look best, almost like sand. I will probably do this for my future fry tank. Just an idea


Hey, that's a pretty good idea!


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## puppyrjjkm (Aug 2, 2009)

Jupiter said:


> Hey, that's a pretty good idea!


Thanks! :-D Here's the link if anyone is interested. http://www.fishyreview.com/fake_sand.html


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## aknight (Nov 9, 2009)

You could also get a piece of scrapbook paper with river rocks on it from a craft store and cut it to put under the tank.


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## veganchick (Jan 10, 2009)

gravel looks better.. Don't use large rocks as bettas will wedge themselves underneath and get stuck. Barebottom is really good for Bettas with poor immune systems as it stays cleaner.... Its also good if you don't have much time for cleaning


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## gahcrazy (Aug 25, 2009)

I like the spray paint and paper under the tank ideals. Scooter and Slimey seem to be o.k. with this move. slimey protested like two days, wouldn't eat but that didn't last lol... ;-). My three girls are enjoying all that room aprox 8 gallons each. let them runn with each other for 45 mins the other day. maybe i'll put them together when i have nore girls.. anyhow thanks for the ideals, i like the barebottom tanks somewhat. But gravel makes forgetting about wc a lot more easy, which ofcourse is easy on me:roll:


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## gahcrazy (Aug 25, 2009)

Well, good news. two of the three boys finns are looking much better. or atleast the problem has stopped its' progression. its only been like two weeks, 2 more weaks and it might be time to find a ten gallon to but them it. except for the extra work in keeping the bottom of the tanks looking nice the bare bottom tank has really helped.8)


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## veganchick (Jan 10, 2009)

good, I'm really liking the sand idea now though! I wanna try!


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