When looking at someone’s fish tank, a fish tank that has natural scenery is the most memorable and beautiful. You should keep this in mind as you choose your fish tank gravel or sand.

Instead of choosing loud green and pink colors for your gravel-go for the natural gravel or use sand for that beach look. When using sand for your fish tank, it may cause unsightly algae; in this case, you may want to invest in a few algae eaters.

The first thing you want to do before introducing gravel to your tank is to clean it. You also want to periodically clean it as food and waste have a tendency of getting trapped there.
Freshwater Substrate - River Jewels - 5 lb.
Periodic cleaning of your tank gravel should be performed every two weeks. You must first remove any fish you have in the tank and place them in a temporary location, such as a bucket.

Drain about 1/2 the water out of your tank. Attach a gravel cleaner to the end of a fish tank hose. Small amounts of gravel should be sucked into the gravel cleaner. You will notice debris particles getting sucked up into the bucket. Shake the gravel tremendously so that all debris will be loosened and removed.

You can remove algae from your gravel by placing the gravel in a bleach and water solution of 1:9. Do not wash any aquarium item with soap or detergents because it can cause a toxic residue to be left behind for your fish.

Repeat the cleaning process until you see no debris. Then rinse the gravel very well before returning to the tank.

Certain types of species do not go well with gravel, but need something much softer; those animals are: catfish, earth eating cichlids, spiny eels, loaches, and gobies.

When you have a clean tank, you are providing your fish a chance to have the ultimate healthy environment.

In order to calculate how much gravel is needed for your tank, I have found a rule of thumb measurement. Take your tanks measurements (Length x Width) and find the area in inches. Divide your answer by 10 and this is how much gravel in pounds in needed for your tank, which should come out to average about 2 inches of gravel on the bottom of the tank.

Fish tank gravel will help to add an aesthetic quality to your tank, but not taking the proper care of this aspect of your aquarium can lead to unpleasant health issues for your tank and your fish.