Substrate

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tmoore

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Hi, I am just accumulating all the materials I'll need and I'm not sure I understand the difference between gravel and sand. I realize that if I do choose gravel it must be large enough that my axie doesn't eat it, but if I'm not getting an under gravel filter I'll have to change/clean my substrate more frequently, no? Thus, using sand will be much more difficult. If you have any tips here, I would love the help,
Thanks guys,
Tim
 
You shouldn't have to completely change the substrate whatever you use.

By far the easiest substrate to maintain is sand. If you go for gravel it would have to be more like pebbles so that the axies don't swallow it and this is a right pain to keep clean, any gunk ends up in the crevices between the stones and you would have to move them frequently to clean between and underneath. Otherwise you would end up with a big ammonia problem.

Sand on the other hand forms an even surface so any debris doesn't actually find it's way under the sand, well not much anyway. All it takes is a little daily suction with a turkey baster or gravel vacuum and then once a week give the sand a good stir round to remove any dirt that has found its way deeper into the sand. If you keep the sand to around an inch deep you shouldn't have any problem with keeping the sand clean.

Of course the easiest of all is a bare-bottomed tank, I'm a recent convert and I love the easy cleaning now!
 
Here here,

I agree with Kerry, I am one of the no substrste advocates having had sand, slate slabs and larges gravel nothing compares to nothing in my humble opinion.
 
Hi Tmoore,

Here is a little illusion trick that combines the best of both worlds. You can still have a beautiful tank that is bare bottomed, simply by placing a poster (perhaps of sand/gravel/rocks etc) under the glass bottomed tank. It gives you the illusion that there is substrate or at least doesn't look 'glassy' whilst still permitting the ease of maintenance of a bare bottomed tank.

Cheers :D
 
I'll definitely look into all that. Not sure if I'll do the bare bottom at first, favoring to try my hand at some substrate (likely sand). I've read so much about the importance of gravel size and I was actually a little shocked to see that the reptile/amphibian shop keeps their axies in a tank with "bite-sized" substrate. I guess it just goes to show you what their priorities are...
 
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