Gravel

[TheIrishJedi]

Can I just use typical aquarium gravel, with live rock, for a FOWLR set up instead of sand?

Obviously I couldnt have any burrowing fish, etc.

Other than that, is there any reason not to use it.

 

[TropicalNorth]

The larger the grain size the more detritus it will trap, you'll probably find that after a while the gravel will get very 'dirty' and you'll be switching to sand anyway. A resonably fine sand (not a powder) is the best idea IMO.

 

[ram303]

Hi jedi.
North is right, the larger the substrate the more deterious it will collect. I have lernt this the hard way.On the other hand though i have found that the finer sands seem to get sucked up when i vac. So i use white silica gravel of about 2-3mm. And i get it from a sand, gravel and Landscaping store.the stuff i use is actully for pebble creeting pools. and it comes in allsorts of colors.
it cost me about $20 per 20KG bag

this is a 6ft x 2ft base and i used about 30kg...
Is is way cheeper than your lfs.

 

[OhioOilMan]

I have found that swimming pool sand works wonderfully and is reasonably cheap.

 

[echoofformless]

Another reason not to use gravel is that it wouldn't look particularly natural in a tropical reef ecosystem.