help 75 gallon fish tank gravel or sand?help how much do i need?

Question

i just bought a brand new 75 gallon acrylic fish tank.i up graded from a 10 gallon that is a big up grade 7x larger. the tank is naked i need gravel or sand for my fish tank .can i use real beach sand from the atlantic ocean will this work? better than gravel?the tank is fresh water.how long would it take to do dilute all the salt from the beach sand?10 gallons of real beach sand?i will drive to the beach and get two 5 gallon buckets full of real beach sand.or i was going to buy gravel for my fish tank but how much do i need for my 75 gallon fish tank 48 in long x 18 in deep. i would like to fill the tank with 1 inch thick gravel but how much do i need 30 pounds or more?can i put anything thing elts in the bottom besides grave in my fish tank that would make it look better like mulch or sand any thing?i just want some thing elts besides gravel.i have some plants and a hollow log 12 inch round 2 foot long.any other color than blue would look great to.gravel or sand what is your answer?

ok no beach sand .no under gravel filter. i will look in to construction sand or playsand.if gravel is cheaper than the play sand i will get gravel.what will way more the playsand or the gravel 10 gallons?i will put 6 small oscars 4 or 6 inch and 30 minnows in the tank? thay can eat all the minnows thay want.i got the fish free with my fish tank setup. i payed $400 for my setup i got the tank 75 gallon acrylic (no eurobracing 3/8 or 1/2 inch thick acrylic), lids,a hollow log 1 foot round by 2 foot long,lights and a 150 gph water pump filter gos on the backside of the tank.i had to place a order for the 75 gallon it cost me $60 more then the 55 gallon setup thay had $340.i order the fish tank from glasscages.com tank only $210 free shipping to the pet store or thay can ship it to your house $260. but i had to buy every thing elts at the pet store to get the $400 price.the lights log water pump filter were $190.thay want to charge me $450 with blue grave i said i wanted white sand.

no under gravel filter.what would be easyer to clean gravel or sand?i clean my tanks every 2 week or one's a month. i drain all the water out with a hose and put new water in it keeps my tank from smelling bad.i feed my fish dried dog food 20 or 25 peaces and fish flakes.thay eat the dog food but the dog food make the water smell bad.i have 4 or 6 oscars 4 or 6 inch long,30 minnows 3 or 4 8 inch catfish, not a sucker fish and a 10 inch soft shell turtle in the tank he eats the dog food.i hade the turtle already. i got the fish free when i bought the fish tank on saturday but i have no gravel in my fish tank it looks naked lol... a women bought a 150 gallon acrylic 6 foot long 2 foot deep fish tank for $375 tank only last one to i was going to buy it but she got it first.she got 4 12 inch to 15 inch fish for free with her tank? thay had a weekend special on fish tanks 10% to 25% off i payed $400 for my tank and every thing but i didnot buy any grave lol.what looks better gravel or sand

question number 2 i have a creek in my back yard the creek is not flowing 1000 foot long 25 feet wide 2 foot deep. the creek has a lot of green algae in the water the algae only floats on top of the water like small seeds.can i put algae destroyer in the water?will the algae destroyer kill the fish in the creek?i been usesing a large minnow net 18 inch round to get some of the algae out but it would take me all week to get all that algae out.i was looking for a easyer way to get rid of the algae?but if the net is the only way i will just have to do that way.

thank you guys for the info. i bought 50 pounds of light tan gravel same color as sand looks a lot better than blue.i got 2 25 pound bags at walmart for $20.i got more gravel then i needed.1 1/2 or 2 inch thick gravel i was only plan on geting 3/4 thick but more is better.thanks a lot.

Answer 1

That's a nice upgrade!

Beach sand wouldn't be advisable, not because of the salt, but because it contains pieces of broken shell that have been ground down to about the same size as the sand. The shell can raise the pH of your tank, so I'd say that unless you're keeping cichlids, it would be better to use construction-grade sand or playsand. Plus, with sand from a beach, you might be adding algae or unwanted bacteria or pollutants to your tank.

Sand is fine to use, unless you're planning to use an undergravel filter - the slots in the filter plate are wide enough that the sand would fall through. It's still from the days when UG filtration was the norm that gravel is still so popular today. But depending on the species, sand can be a better choice. It's easier to clean (everything lays on the top of the sand, rather than falls between the pieces like in gravel). It take a bit of effort to adjust to how it needs to be cleaned, though - You can still use a siphon, but there's a tendency to siphon up the sand if the suction is too strong. I'll put a link about cleaning a sand substrate below.

Color is a matter of personal choice. I prefer natural colored gravel or sand because it looks the most natural, but for brightly colored fish in an unplanted tank, I sometimes go with black - it shows off the colors best, and doesn't reflect the light so there's slightly less algae.

A general suggestion for substrate is a 1 pound of substrate per gallon of water to get around a 2" depth.

Answer 2

Undergravel filters aren't very hard to set up. You just put the filter on the bare tank bottom, put a couple of inches of gravel on top of the filter plate, and connect either an air pump or a powerhead to the water uplift tube(s). There will probably be instructions with the filter, if you buy a ready-made one. You can also make your own, if your a do-it-yourselfer. Do a web search for something like "DIY undergravel filter." However, I have to say that I would not use an undergravel filter with the cichlids you have, because they all like to dig and move the substrate around. An undergravel filter only works well if the entire bottom of the tank is covered with the gravel, which it won't be after your fish have rearranged the tank. A better way to deal with the fish waste would be just to siphon the gravel frequently (daily?) to remove any solid waste. At the same time, you will be making partial water changes (put fresh water in to replace the water you siphon out), which you need a lot of with these fish. You will probably still want to change from sand to gravel for this, because sand will tend to all go up the siphon hose, but with a "gravel washer" type of siphon you can keep the gravel in the tank.

Answer 3

As the previous answer pointed out beach sand may contain things that will play with the tanks PH. Beyond that sand is a bit of a hassle. You can't use a siphon hose on sand 'cause it just gets sucked right out!!! It would be a right pain in the behind to clean all that sand. Also most fish from the cichlid family will pick up substrate and move it, catfish and plecos often stir up substrate with the movements which will cause the tank to look dirty constantly.

Sand is a matter of opinion - for freshwater I don't think it's the best idea. I usually recommend blasting sand which is a very fine, natural looking gravel it looks like rather coarse sand. It's also inexpensive fifty pounds usually runs between 10 and 15 dollars and on top of that it's beneficial to the health of your tank, because unlike larger gravel food and waste particles can't fall between the rocks as easily.

As far as the amount fifty pounds might get you an inch, seventy five would probably be even better.

Answer 4

Actually, it's easier to clean and maintain a tank with no substrate. Bare-bottomed tanks are the norm in breeder facilities and you can actually decorate them nicely with aquatic plants in pots and pieces of driftwood or rocks.

Also, I should warn you that oscars get over a foot long. They are BIG. And very aggressive. They'll be fine when they're little and all, but when they get bigger, you'll have some serious aggression problems; they may kill each other. I wouldn't keep any more than a pair in a 75-gallon when they get that big, and even then, the pair has to be unusually tolerant of each other.