help gravel vs bare bottom

[Sue]

Hi, I am setting up a new tank.  I have always used gravel but now I keep seeing how gold fish can choke on it..

I would like to do a bare bottom However I read that this may not be a great idea either

Please help me with this as I am new and want the best setup.

If possible if you have a bare bottom tank can you please post pic for me

Thank you

[FishyMandy]

I find bare bottom the easiest to keep clean and much much better than gravel

Here is an old photo of my tank

 

Another Option is Sand, it's still pretty easy to keep clean, though not as easy as barebottom, and it gives the fish something to forage through.

[Sue]

Thank you. Mandy.

I love your tank!  is that a real plant?  also how do you make the floor black?  

Sue

[FishyMandy]

Thanks! Yes that is a real plant My tank stand is black so it shows through the glass at some angles but most of the time it just looks reflective, you can paint the outside bottom of you tank though to make it black, I have painted the back of my tank black

[shakaho]

I know of no good reason for gravel in a goldfish tank.  If you feel you must have substrate, your fish would vote for an inch of sand.  You can put your plants in pots of pebbles.

[Caretta Rose]

I would also vote for barebottom. The clean up is so much easier and I can rest easy knowing they aren't going to choke on something. (Although they still manage to find trouble in other ways, but that's another story! 🙄)

Here is my current setup:

[koko]

My tank is mostly bare bottom  

Sorry its a mess right now  

[dahling8]

I like a little bit of both.  When I had multiple tanks, the messy fish will get their bare bottom tanks.  Just so much easier for tank maintenance.  Display tanks gets sand.  I haven't used gravel in years.  My current goldfish had Tahitian Moon Sand, a fine black sand.  It was a little dark for my tastes and when one of my ranchu got sand in the folds of his wen, I went bare bottom for the tank.

My preference for most tanks now is to paint the outside bottom of the tank black, with a very thin layer of medium grain size of sand on top...just enough to barely cover the surface bottom.  If the sand gets disturbed, showing the black bottom, it still looks natural.  Easy to clean and the goldfish and other bottom fish can still forage and sift through sand.  

[Sue]

Thank you so much.  Love this idea. What kind of paint do you use to paint a tank???   Reg black paint?

Thanks again

 

[dahling8]

Flat black latex.  It's easy enough to peel off if you don't like it.  Spray paint would be easier to apply, just mask everything off.  If you're painting anyways, I usually paint the background a light blue with the black bottom.  I was trying to post pictures, but the file sizes are all too big. 

[Sue]

Thank you again!!! I love your advice!

Susan

[Sue]

Thank you all for the beautiful picture s of your tanks. Koko what do you use to keep your potted plants from floating?

[koko]

5 hours ago, Sue said:

Thank you all for the beautiful picture s of your tanks. Koko what do you use to keep your potted plants from floating?

They where tied down to river rocks, but it came undone on me  So now they are all sitting on the ground and the river rocks are kinda holding them down by the roots. I move everything around when I do a water change to get all the debris out of the tank

The pond lilies just old themselves down  

[ABB63]

I also vote for bare bottom. I think it’s a lot easier to clean. Made to still pick food off the bottom, and when the sunlight is coming in it really reflects the light better.I think it’s a lot easier to clean. Made to still pick food off the bottom, and when the sunlight is coming in it really reflects the light better.