Best substrate for goldfish?

[EVoyager31]

I have 3 fancies right now, two fantails and an oranda. I’ve had sand & some large pebbles with them and haven’t encountered any issues. They will get a mouthful from time to time, but always spit it out. Like I said, no issues encountered and I’ve been able to get a nice scape with the sand. 
I am preparing to upgrade their tank to something larger with more surface area. I hear glass bottom is best, so they won’t ingest any substrate that could block them up. I just don’t care for how the glass bottom looks.. white sand makes everything look clean and bright. I have a couple crinum plants and some of that japan clover leaf style plants that are thriving thanks to some root tabs. I’d like to keep those and haven’t yet found any pots I like enough to keep them in.
 

Suggestions? 

[Softbreeze]

I'm watching this with interest as am planning a big goldfish set up. In the past I've had them on gravel but am looking to use sand this time. Am hearing conflicting info on which is better though

[EVoyager31]

On 6/26/2022 at 7:42 PM, Softbreeze said:

I'm watching this with interest as am planning a big goldfish set up. In the past I've had them on gravel but am looking to use sand this time. Am hearing conflicting info on which is better though

Yeah if you google lots of folks say bare bottom or gravel.. but my fat goldies will 100% eat the gravel and not spit it back up.

[Flumpweesel]

One of mine was gravel eater one never did. The one that ate the gravel mainly did it to get attention it would use the stones to tap on the glass to get attention it throw mouthfuls at me. It never suffered ill effects from it.

Just go with what you will find easiest to maintain as there is no telling what your fish will do anyway. But you will be cleaning up after these guys either way.

Edited June 27, 2022 by Flumpweesel
Additional comment

[EVoyager31]

On 6/27/2022 at 6:51 PM, Flumpweesel said:

One of mine was gravel eater one never did. The one that ate the gravel mainly did it to get attention it would use the stones to tap on the glass to get attention it throw mouthfuls at me. It never suffered ill effects from it.

Just go with what you will find easiest to maintain as there is no telling what your fish will do anyway. But you will be cleaning up after these guys either way.

Ha! Smart fish. Yeah I think I may stick with sand