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Gravel Recommendations


Cinnebuns
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My very generous uncle gave me a gift card to Amazon. I have been planning a a couple of tanks and have been stuck on buying a few supplies this would help with. One of which is gravel. I'm kinda stuck though. I have a gravel that I'm very much in love with. So much so I have it in most of my tanks. My impulse was to get it again, but maybe I want to try something new. 

My thoughts are the gravel I know I like could go in the tank with the cories so i know they will be safe on it. The other tank will house a mutt guppy colony and snails. This is where I'm thinking of trying a new gravel. I do want it able to grow simple plants. I know some gravel is better at that than others. 

The one I've been using is aqua naturals gold pearl. What I like about it is its grain size is perfect. It's rounded and smooth so safe for bottom dwellers. It's a pretty natural color. It grows plants well and is extremely easy maintenance.

Let the suggestions start!

20230111_173747.jpg

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I have been using the combination of JBL Aquabasis Plus on the bottom layer as a dirt+ JBL Manado on the top. I am quite happy about it. Started supplementing the root feeders with some root tabs after like 6 months and always been having a pretty good growth. I am keeping a school of pygmy corys, sterbai corys and a L199, have never had a a single sign of damage on them as the substrate is pretty soft.

The only problem that I sometimes face is planting new cuttings. It can be hard to keep them in the substrate sometimes and may take a couple of tries. But when they grow the roots, everything seems to be great. Ofcourse as  long as they are not disturbed a lot by the bottom dwellers until they grow the roots :')

Edited by Lennie
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I’m a cheap Petco imagitarium Aztec bronze gravel girl. I love that stuff. My plants do great. My corys are fine. Just the right size for shrimplettes to hide in the nooks and crannies. That leaves me extra cash for more plants. 😁

Edited by Guppysnail
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On 1/12/2023 at 7:41 AM, Guppysnail said:

I’m a cheap Petco imagitarium Aztec bronze gravel girl. I love that stuff. My plants do great. My corys are fine. Just the right size for shrimplettes to hide in the nooks and crannies. That leaves me extra cash for more plants. 😁

I second the Imagitarium recommendation. I used a 2:1 ratio of Aztec Bronze:Nutmeg (which is slightly coarser) but only because the Petco I was in had a buy-two-get-one-free sale and only two bags of Aztec Bronze. Anyway, I have had no real issues planting anything in it except that the cories sometimes disagree with my placement!

20230112_102205.jpg.535aef54876818b72854c5cba8366190.jpg

(Photo is from the side of the tank to more clearly show coloration.)

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On 1/12/2023 at 10:40 AM, MattyM said:

Just wanted to say I love that gravel too - in one tank I mixed the Gold Pearl with the Midnight Pearl and it looks really good. 

I did the exact same thing in one of my tanks!  I was kinda forced to because they only had 1 bag of each left but it totally worked out for the better!  

Since I love it so much I've been looking at other kinds of the same brand. It seems those 2 are the only color variants of the same type of gravel they carry. I did however find this one that looks interesting. It def does not seem safe for cories which is why I hesitate. The tank in question does not plan to have cories but I do breed them so who knows if at some point my plans change for the tank. I'm also kinda curious how the color would look with the color of fish I'm choosing which is blue guppy mutts. 

Screenshot_20230112_121124_Chrome.jpg

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I would try to find a gravel that has a little bit of character to it. Some black as well as color. I really, really like the ADA gravel, but it's been out of stock on Amazon for over 2 years since I first saw it on there.

I ended up with seachem substrate, but let me see what I can find that seems nice!

Something like this, but this is probably too chunky. Price isn't too bad.

[18 Pounds] Aquarium Gravel River Rock, Natural Polished Decorative Gravel,Garden Outdoor Ornamental River Pebbles Rocks, Polished Gravel, Mixed Color Stones,for Landscaping, Vase Fillers (20) https://a.co/d/fWrTMFF

I've also seen a lot of people use this:

Carib Sea ACS00832 Peace River Gravel for Aquarium, 20-Pound (1 Bag) https://a.co/d/1kw1pjJ

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On 1/12/2023 at 12:48 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

I would try to find a gravel that has a little bit of character to it. Some black as well as color. I really, really like the ADA gravel, but it's been out of stock on Amazon for over 2 years since I first saw it on there.

I ended up with seachem substrate, but let me see what I can find that seems nice!

Something like this, but this is probably too chunky. Price isn't too bad.

[18 Pounds] Aquarium Gravel River Rock, Natural Polished Decorative Gravel,Garden Outdoor Ornamental River Pebbles Rocks, Polished Gravel, Mixed Color Stones,for Landscaping, Vase Fillers (20) https://a.co/d/fWrTMFF

I've also seen a lot of people use this:

Carib Sea ACS00832 Peace River Gravel for Aquarium, 20-Pound (1 Bag) https://a.co/d/1kw1pjJ

The Carib sea has never spoken to me for some reason tbh. That first one tho made me do a literal "OOOOHHHH!" out loud. I might read more on it ty!  My only hesitation is if it is small enough grains to gravel vac it. I do love the idea tho!  It gives me what I'm kinda looking for with the flamingo stuff, something new and different, while still being cory-safe and not too colorful and out there!

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On 1/12/2023 at 12:58 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Oh. This i like.

TELLW Aquarium Bottom Sand Aquarium Landscape Decorative Bottom Sand Small Stone Gravel Colorful Mixed Sand fine Sand https://a.co/d/bLparbL

A few colors available

Oh dang!  You have the right suggestions leading me to the right places!  I might end up going to a home improvement place to look for something similar. 

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On 1/12/2023 at 11:12 AM, Cinnebuns said:

Oh dang!  You have the right suggestions leading me to the right places!  I might end up going to a home improvement place to look for something similar. 

A lot of stuff like that seems to be listed for flower decor. Toppings for flower pots. Glad you're finding stuff you like!

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