Pet Forum / Aquaria / Goldfish / December 2004

Hi Ron, Its really what ever you prefer.  Some people who keep goldfish
use gravel or sand while others prefer to have a bare bottom tank.  You
can use some large flat stones and clay pots to hold live or silk
plants if you like that look.  I have done that with some of my tanks
and they look really nice.  I also have a few tanks that I have
scattered  several large pebbles (purchased at the petstore and made
for fish tanks) I feel better knowing that I wont come home to a fish
who choked to death on a piece of small gravel.   After having tanks
set up both ways I really do prefer the look of bare bottom.  I also
would like to say that the fish themselves are beautiful enough to
decorate any tank with out having to add anything further.  

Maria

for people new to keeping GF it is best to start with bare bottom and then start
putting things into the tank if you feel you need more things.  some people like to
attach plants to suction cups and can put them on the sides or bottom.  in any case
it is much easier to maintain the tank without gravel.  
for filtration just use a hang on the back filter rated for about twice the size of
the fish tank.  so for a 20 gallon with 2 GF get a whisper,etc rated for a 40 gallon.

Ingrid

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
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Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

You can use what you want but you must be intelligent about it and/or use
common sense. A few options are fine sand, Seachem onyx sand, seachem fluorite
or tahitian moon sand.

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I've used gravel in my goldfish tanks since the 1950s without a problem.  I
do vacuum the gravel monthly during water changes.  Some people don't care
to be bothered with gravel.  Nothing looks worse than a "naked" tank with
nothing but a few fish and filter intake to be seen.