Combining gravel and sand?

[H2Ogal]

Hey, fishycat, somehow I missed your post earlier. Nice tip on how to knock the bottom out of a clay pot, thanks!

jpappy, I see a lot of pics of freshly 'scaped tanks with sand, flourite, etc. all neatly arranged and have been wondering how things sort out over time. I suppose folks don't like to the show off the "everyday" look, lol. Kinda like how I clean my house crazy for the holidays and by February I'm all "You wanna come over today? Um, sure ... gimme an hour." :nilly:

LFS should sell sample bags of substrates so people can play with them before buying. Just a thought.

 

[jpappy789]

With MTS and then all the bottom dwellers poking around it didn't stay covered for long...then again I didn't have much sand on the top.

 

[jasonG75]

Here is the deal with kuhlis and Dojos...THEY love to dig, so what happened in my case was my kuhlis (4) and my Dojo have dug under the gravel allowing the sand to over take the grave. Now you dont see any gravel in my tank.

Typicaly what I have used gravel for in my tank was to hold the plants a little better and then I would put a handful of sand over the gravel. It will eventually happen anyways. Also they like to dig around the root systems.

 

[jasonG75]

LFS should sell sample bags of substrates so people can play with them before buying. Just a thought.

Go to Lowes, HomeDepot or even Wal-Mart...Get yourself a bag of Sterilized dust free playsand, that's all I am saying.

 

[coach_z]

give the gravel a shot! I feel as if your tank would benefit greatly from the 1/2 sand 1/2 rock look.

 

[H2Ogal]

Thanks for the kuhli info Jason ... didn't realize they were quite so good at redecorating. Luckily, I have extra sand. It's deciding which gravel(s) to use that's tough!

Coach, I think you're right about having separate areas of sand and rock. Would definitely add some visual interest.

 

[jasonG75]

didn't realize they were quite so good at redecorating. Luckily, I have extra sand.

OH yea when I started my tank I had a smooth surface, now I have mounds and valleys everywhere. Now I will say my Dojo does more damage than the Kuhlis do, but they love to burrow under my mopi wood and my large rock. I would not build a rock stucture these these fish unless you had a good support system under the rocks.

 

[H2Ogal]

Thanks for the tip! May have to silicone rocks together to get the effect I've started to think I want.

 

[fishorama]

My kuhlis never dig in pool sand, either grade I've had them in, just tummy tracks sometimes. Interesting how everyone's experience can be different (really Jason, I blame your dojo ) I did wait a few weeks after most planting to add them though.

 

[jasonG75]

My kuhlis never dig in pool sand, either grade I've had them in, just tummy tracks sometimes. Interesting how everyone's experience can be different (really Jason, I blame your dojo ) I did wait a few weeks after most planting to add them though.

No doubt the Dojo does the majority, but my Kuhlis dig under my large rock and my wood (I see it happen all the time). They dug themselves a small cave on the side of the rock.