i was wondering what you people thought of the different types and colours of gravel, and which you used or thought were best?

right now i have that white and coloured mix gravel, i don't like it much coz no matter how many days i've left it soaking in water and how many times i wash it and rinse it, the water gets much cloudier with it in the tank.

today i'm getting some dorset gravel, the stones are like pebbles and therefore they are cleaner.

i think the colours make it look tacky in some instances, i want my tank to look great, but not like a child has set it up.

any opinions? please reply!

Each person has their own method. Some of the members have a bare
bottom tank(no gravel), some have a very small type gravel(see pic
i've enclosed), and some use big pebbles in the 3-5 cm range. Or you
can use colored glass beads 2-3 cm. Color is another personal choice.
Black seems to be the color for the moment, espcially if your doing a
planted tank. The white color most people have found shows algea and
gunk too easily.

The cloudiness in your tank may be due to it is in the cycling process.
Their is a link on the right hand side of the board in the main forum area
that explains how it works, but I'll give a quick explaining. Fish poop
produces ammonia, after 10 or so days bacteria turns it into nitrIte,
after another 10 or so days bacteria turns it into nitrAte. In a fully
cycled tank ammonia and nitrItes should read 0 in a water test. While
nitrAtes should read 5-20ppm. While your tank is cycling, you'll need to
do water changes to avoid the ammonia and nitrItes from becoming
poisonous to your fish. Once your tank has cycled, the cloudiness will
magically disapear.

Hope this helped a little. Feel free to ask anymore questions if needed.

Here's the link for cycling a tank:
http://www.kokosgoldfish.com/cycle.html

thanks for the reply and explanation.

at the moment i don't have a filter due to lack of money, but i change about 20-30% of the water every day.

when i first set it up, the water was getting cloudy and i thought it might be the gravel, so i took the gravel out and left it soaking and cleaned it over a space of 2 days, while there was no gravel in the tank, the water stayed much clearer, and with the 20-30% change it was near perfectly clear.

This is why i think it's the gravel making the water murky.

i'm hoping to get a filter within the next week or so, could you give me an idea of how much the cheaper ones are (UK)?


thanks.

I'm not sure what's available on your side of the pond. Maybe Emma
or Kev or another UKer will stop by and be able to give you a
recommendation.

With the gravel, you can slowly add it back in. Try a handful or two
every other day. The gravel will house some of the good bacteria. It
just takes time for it to settle in. <_<

Keep up with the water changes.

Good luck!

thanks. I put the gravel back anyway, but there isn't enough yet until i get my dorset gravel later.

i will keep up with the water changes regularly, and will get a filter as soon as possible

thanks for your help.

Hi Golden Supernova,

The cheapest filter option is the undergravel filter. This consists of a plastic plate which covers the entire bottom of the tank and is buried under 2-3" of gravel, and a plastic uplift tube. You need to get an airpump and airstone or a powerhead to go with this filter. It is quite efficient but limited in that you can't add or remove different filter media - like carbon - if you need to. It can also cause health problems long-term unless you are very vigilant about doing thorough gravel cleans and cleaning under the plate regularly.

The next cheapest option is the Fluval internal filter, which is what I use. These are simple but very effective, and you can change the media inside if needed, which is very useful. A 3+ fluval (which fits a 3-foot tank) costs about £28.00. Smaller and larger models are available and it is easy to maintain - simply open it up once every couple of weeks and gently rinse out the sponges in old tank water.

The most expensive option is an external canister filter (Eheim is the brand of choice). These are extremely efficient and sophisticated, but you can expect to pay at least £150 for one!

Hope this helps.

thanks for the reply emma, i got an internal filter for £15.


imy girlfriend got an airstone but no air pump, so i'll be getting one of them soon, £5.50 in Wilkinsons, that'll do me.


now, just to make sure, i plug the air pump in, then attach it using a tube to an airstone or bubble wall/curtain to make all the bubbles come up to aerate the water?

is this correct?



thanks

Goldfish need lots of aeration and overfiltration of the tank. Also - they do better with no gravel - a barebottom tank.