On 21 Aug 2006 10:07:44 -0700,
wrote:

In message , Dick
writes
On 19 Aug 2006 09:59:19 -0700,
wrote:

Hi All,

A friend is setting up a fresh water tank he has been given. It's tall
rather than long and fits in a corner unit. He's not sure weather to go
for sand or gravel at the bottom of the tank. What are the pro's and
cons? Is sand easy clean?

TIA

I have gravel in 2 tanks, medium sand in a 75 and fine sand in a 10.
For about a year I did not use sand in a 10 gallon tank
What is better? None, they all work better with some plants than
others. I have Crypts in the 75 with medium sand and the same stock
of Crypts in a 29 gallon with coarse gravel. In the 29 they were
almost to the top of the tank, say 15 inches, they have never grown
above 10 inches in the 75. I have low light levels in all the tanks.

If your question is ease of maintenance, again I draw a neutral. In 3
years I have never cleaned the gravel, whereas the 10 with no gravel I
cleaned the bottom every water change.


Okay, regular water changes cut down on cleaning. But if you have to
clean sand how is it done? Rinsing in a bucket? Wouldn't getting it out
disturb any poisonous gases?

I believe the secret to easy tank maintenance is changing a percentage
of water on a regular basis. I change 20% twice weekly. I change
filter cartridges only when more water is going out the over flow than
through filters.

I just re-read your comments. Tall tanks are hard to clean. I have
problems reaching the bottom of my and 29 gallon tanks. I wouldn't
even try cleaning the bottom unless it was bare.

You didn't mention plants. They can be lots of fun, but be sure they
are suitable for the tank lighting. It is measured as watts/gallon,
but I would think a tall tank less light would reach the bottom.

I've found a lighting formula that takes into account the height of the
tank.

http://faq.thekrib.com/plant-lighting.html


My friend really likes fish, most times he passes any body of water he
stops and looks for them, but he's tried setting up a tank before and
been unsuccessful.

He was interested to hear about Eco-Complete, which is available in the
UK by mail order, but in the past plants have been one of his problems.
If he gets Eco I gather it would be a good idea to avoid bottom feeders
that would stir it up as it may coat lower leaves and get into pumps
and such where it could do damage.


I've talked to him about his last attempt with plants, the story is as
follows. He went into a fish shop and picked a couple of healthy
looking plants more or less at random, put them straight into warm
water nestling the little plastic root pot into pea gravel. He did have
a fluorescent tube that was supposed to be a good for plants, but he
can't remember the wattage. He added liquid fertiliser as per the
instructions, but after a couple of days the plants started to slowly
rot and after about a week the water was getting bad. There were no
fish in the tank.

I've followed a link from Netmax's site and found a kind of plant
generator based on plant size and water conditions. So I might
recommend getting specific types by mail order.


You certainly are a good friend.

He's done me some good turns in the past. Now it's suspected he's
starting to suffer from depression, as part of which he is showing
reduced motivation for everything at the moment. I know that is being
looked into.
However he has always wanted a nice tank, but never liked study, so
part of my helping is research. I'm reading some of the websites listed
in the newbie thread, but I hope you won't mind when I'm back with more
questions because, as you can imagine, I'm quite keen for it to go
smoothly.

I hope your friend gets good medical advice. So much can be done with
pills these days. I don't have any faith in talk-therapy.

Don't hold your breath for it going "smoothly." My tanks didn't reach
that goal for a year or more.

You're still a good mate.

dick