Pro of River rock

[pnkflyd669]

Hi all,

I am toying with the idea of changing sand to golf ball size river rock. Out of all the post I have read on here most seem to favor sand. Are there any pros to rock? and how much should I put in a 75 gallon if I do choose to change?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Kaini]

As long as the rocks are all bigger than the Axolotl's head (no chance of swallowing them) Then that should be fine.

I would say most people favor sand because it's easier to clean. If you layer the big rocks enough they can harbor poo and uneaten food etc down in between them and it gets difficult to clean out. All the built up gunk can cause ammonia spikes etc.

Pros... hmmm... I haven't had rocks in my own Axolotl tank so I can't say. Hopefully someone else can weigh in here

 

[auntiejude]

I had rocks to start with - nightmare to keep clean and the axies kept trying to move them and made awful clacking noises!
The only 'pro' I can think of is it looks good.

 

[Kaysie]

I agree. There are no pros to river rocks.

 

[Boomsloth]

I never used them with my axolotls but I did have them with my oscars and pikes, I scattered a layer about 2 rocks thick and made a slate mountain type thing in the center. after about two months I noticed that the amount of debris between the rocks was wayy more than I expected. Oscars are relatively dirty fish but axolotls are even worse. Maybe if you do sand with some scattered river rocks would look cool and "natural"

 

[vainglory]

I did sand with a few large river rocks, rocks in general are a pain to clean. Even gravel, which I have in my golfish tank.

 

[Boomsloth]

Has anyone tried one of those soil substrates meant for plants? I'm thinking the only issue with that would be the axolotls digging everything out.