Should I use sand or gravel?

Question

I'm setting up a 10 gallon tank for a male betta and 3-4 cories. I've heard so many things about what the ground should be that I'm really confused now. The tank will be planted so that should be considered too. Anyway, I've heard that sand might get swallowed by a betta when it's searching for extra food on the bottom, but cories need something soft to dig through so their barbels don't get damaged. Gravel would then be too rough for cories then and I'm sorry but marbles are not an option. They are just too... girly....

Answer 1

i am recommending gravel because it is easier to clean.  

Answer 2

Sand is difficult to clean .Gravel is a  a better media but don't use ordinary gravel.Buy it from a good pet shop or aquatics centre as it will be pre-washed and completely smooth and will not harm your fish.

Answer 3

Hi, your corys or betta will cope ok with fine gravel up to pea size gravel, as long as they can't hurt themselves just make sure no sharp edges.

Sand is fine as long as you can clean it without sucking it up just use a stocking over the end of your vacuum cleaner.

Sand can also harm the impeller on your filter if you let it get into it.  It may be safer to turn your filter off until the sand has settled.

Answer 4

Everyone will have a different perspective on this, personally I love the sand, my Cories love the sand too.  You will learn how much pressure to use with your suction, I often skim the surface first and then I gently move the sand around and do this some more.  The food tends to stay at the top more, so all your fish will find it easily, and you will know how much to vacuum easily.

Good luck on your decision,

Happy Fish Keeping :)

Stacey

Answer 5

Get pea gravel. It's smooth, round rocks that would be too large for the betta to swallow but I'm pretty sure it shouldn't hurt the cories. And, it isn't as girly as mables ^_^

The main problem with sand is that it clouds so easily and takes a while to settle once it does.

Answer 6

The Betta will not swallow the sand... there is virtually no truth to that, mostly because Bettas will rarely near the bottom to eat-- their upturned mouths make them very well adapted to surface feeding.  Sand would be great for the Cories, but really, standard gravel isn't awful either.  For live plants, however, I MUCH prefer sand, as the fine grain size allows root hairs to grow properly, which gravel doesn't.  I use pool filter sand, but there are others that work just as well.  Avoid substrates that will buffer your pH upwards (crushed coral/shells, aragonite, dolomite, other calcium bicarbonate based things), as this is rather detrimental to the plants.  Really, sand is much easier to clean, as you can just hover the siphon over it rather than having to dig around in the gravel's crevices...