gravel question

oogpister · 05-24-2008, 03:07 PM

Slow but sure going on the tank, my son is out spray painting the stand as we speak. We bought TopFin brand aquarium gravel for substrate. Black. Was that a mistake? I thought it would look cool with tetras. However, as we rinse the gravel, the water turns black. Does the water have to run clear off the rocks? I still have one 15lb bag to go. Its not too late to turn back

Loman · 05-24-2008, 04:10 PM

Gravel and other substrates like sand can be very challenging to get sufficently clean for the tank. Keep rinsing and it will clear up. Black is fine if that is what you like from an aesthtic perspective. Really things like color are almost completely personal taste.

orb4me · 05-31-2008, 02:44 PM

Ive been expecting my water bill to go sky high with all the w/c's and rinse, rinse and more rinse. so far no change. Black will be real pretty. I think it shows poo quicker, but JMO as always.

oogpister · 06-01-2008, 09:48 AM

Really? I would have thought just the opposite. But, I am new to fish. Choose black because they didn't have the big bags of the pretty blue....

orb4me · 06-01-2008, 02:47 PM

maybe because i have 2 parrot fish in 55 gal f/w tank. its no big deal, infact I think it helps me to remember to clean it better.. today, I took out some of gravel and rinsed well and put it back. seems ok so far. everyone has their own opinions. I wonder if its not because of the size of the fish. I have dark green and black in another tank and it always looks clean, but smaller fish.