Home Depot pea gravel??

[ApacheDan]

Ok guys, I figured I need about 170 lbs worth of gravel in my 300 gal tank to get about 2" worth of substrate. Going to my LFS for that amount of gravel would put me in the poorhouse & I rather save my money for more fish. (this guys is selling me some German Rams for a buck a piece! ) Anybody tried Home Depot's or Lowes pea gravel? I read somewhere that it is rounded, so it won't hurt/cut bn's or other fish. I know it will be dirty, so there's work to be done, but I'm more concerned about it changing the pH? anybody have any experience with these?

[Disgirl]

Hi Dan. I have used pea gravel in landscaping and don't think it would alter your water chemistry at all. But I do think lots of uneaten foods and poo will end up down in the gravel and unless you do a complete gravel vacume almost everyday there will sure be a whole lot of debris that will accumulate in there. At least with a sand bottom the debris stays on top to clean up easily.
Barbara

[dpt8]

Dan, Look for #1 sand. Its a tiny bit larger than the pool filter sand ( which is #0 ) Easy to wash and discus love it !! Very small so excellent for cories also. Large gravel wears down the barbs on the cories. Can't say enough good things about the #1

[scottthomas]

I have used pea gravel for years in some of my tanks. It does trap dirt, food, algae, etc. I use only a thin layer to cover the bottom so easier to clean. It will not affect water or fish and not to hard to rinse off really. and its cheap.

Scott

[Chad Hughes]

Unless you are against sand, I would recommend it, especially with discus. Gravel can get messy to keep clean. San stays cleaner at the surface and does not allow debris to penetrate it. Most waste will actually flow across the top of the sand bed with filter current.

Best wishes!

[ApacheDan]

I don't know, I might be totally out of basis on this one, but I got a theory, based on the fact that I had from 55's to 180's with gravel before through the years. Yes gravel is messy and I do get lazy about daily cleaning...so I don't. What I do always is mantain automatic water changes...to the tune of 30-40% daily religiously.

So my theory is this: use gravel, don't worry about cleaning that much. Food will become deitrus eventually & become inbeded as part of the substrate soil...no longer looking like pieces of food. Decaying food releases ammonia, etc...but it gets washed daily with the w'c's. The rich substrate now becomes a paradise for nitryfing bacteria....which balances perfectly the eco-system. When I had tanks like that, my ammonia, nitrite & nitritate readings where always 0. Besides, nobody does daily vacuming of the Amazon river & fish are happy, why, because they get their 24/7 fresh water.

So...anybody likes this lazy man's theory??

[Chad Hughes]

I don't know, I might be totally out of basis on this one, but I got a theory, based on the fact that I had from 55's to 180's with gravel before through the years. Yes gravel is messy and I do get lazy about daily cleaning...so I don't. What I do always is mantain automatic water changes...to the tune of 30-40% daily religiously.

So my theory is this: use gravel, don't worry about cleaning that much. Food will become deitrus eventually & become inbeded as part of the substrate soil...no longer looking like pieces of food. Decaying food releases ammonia, etc...but it gets washed daily with the w'c's. The rich substrate now becomes a paradise for nitryfing bacteria....which balances perfectly the eco-system. When I had tanks like that, my ammonia, nitrite & nitritate readings where always 0. Besides, nobody does daily vacuming of the Amazon river & fish are happy, why, because they get their 24/7 fresh water.

So...anybody likes this lazy man's theory??

You are spot on with what you have to say about the ecological process with porous substrate. The biggest thing to consider is that your tank is not the amazon. It's a very small, closed system. Your challenge is to maintain that system with as little bioload as possible. No matter what substrate, plants, wood, etc. you place in the tank, you'll have a paradise for nitrifying bacteria. What you don't want is decay deep in the gravel bed. This is why vacuuming is so important. It pulls out the matter that decays deep in the gravel bed. Without extracting this matter, it will decay, create gasses and over time will foul your water.

The cool thing about sand is that it won't allow this to happen. When you clean the tank, all the debris that requires removal is on the surface. It makes your process simple and cuts time by half or better. I've had gravel tanks in the past. They work. I also had plants in that gravel which contributed to the success of the substrate working efficiently. With discus, things are a bit different. They need a cleaner environment. I'm not one to change water daily but I do set the tank up for success.

IMHO gravel is not the best, but you can use it with success.

Best of luck to you!

[ApacheDan]

The cool thing about sand is that it won't allow this to happen. When you clean the tank, all the debris that requires removal is on the surface. It makes your process simple and cuts time by half or better. I've had gravel tanks in the past. They work.
Best of luck to you!

Thanks Chad...my experience with sand is that it will eventually ruin the impellers of just about any pump. Not that I'm that lazy....I got about 12 tanks to care of, but this 7 ft x 42" high x 20" wide is testing me....not easy to clean while on a ladder, trying to manuever a long syphon along 7 ft worth of plants and peek back from the top of the ladder to check out for debris in the bottom. So far, I decided to keep it barebottom, re-direct my return pipes to collect debris on certain spots and try a semi-automated syphon system. We shall see...

[Chad Hughes]

Thanks Chad...my experience with sand is that it will eventually ruin the impellers of just about any pump. Not that I'm that lazy....I got about 12 tanks to care of, but this 7 ft x 42" high x 20" wide is testing me....not easy to clean while on a ladder, trying to manuever a long syphon along 7 ft worth of plants and peek back from the top of the ladder to check out for debris in the bottom. So far, I decided to keep it barebottom, re-direct my return pipes to collect debris on certain spots and try a semi-automated syphon system. We shall see...

LOL! Wow! Yes, I guess you have good reasons there. I'm not dealing with anything that big. I like to go bare with multiple tanks too. It's just too much work if you don't.

Best wishes to you!