Rocks and Sand
While decorating the fish tanks or the aquariums, the fish keepers strive to provide the best possible natural environment by using rocks and sand. Adding rocks and sand to your aquarium can enhance its appearance and provide a more natural habitat for your fish. Here are some tips for adding and maintaining rock and sand in your aquarium:
- Choose appropriate rocks and sand: Choose rocks that are safe for aquarium use, and the same is with sand. The purpose is to make sure that it won’t alter the water chemistry or harm your fish. Avoid using rocks that contain sharp edges, as they can scratch or injure your fish.
- Clean the rocks and sand: Before adding rocks to your aquarium, rinse them thoroughly with water to remove any dirt, debris, or other contaminants. The same principle is applied while adding sand.
- Add the rocks and sand to your aquarium: Carefully arrange the rocks and sand in your aquarium, making sure to create hiding places and structures for your fish to explore.
- Maintain the aquarium decorations: Regularly clean the rocks, decorations, and sand in your aquarium to remove any debris or waste that may accumulate. You can use a siphon or gravel vacuum to remove debris from the sand, and a soft brush or cloth to clean the rocks.
- Monitor water quality: Adding rocks, decorations, or sand to your aquarium can affect the water quality, so it’s important to monitor the water chemistry regularly and make adjustments as necessary.
- Avoid overstocking: Adding rocks, decorations, and sand can reduce the available swimming space in your aquarium, so avoid overstocking to prevent stress and aggression among your fish.
A well decorated aquarium
By following these tips, you can safely and effectively add rocks and sand to your aquarium to enhance its appearance and provide a more natural environment for your fish.
Types of Rocks for Aquariums:
Rocks are one of the widely used decorations of many fish tanks. There are hardly any aquariums that are set up without rocks, decorations, and sand. There are a lot of different types of rocks which might be used for the different habitats of an aquarium.
Cobblestones
Cobblestones or cobbles are round-shaped stones. Their shape, smooth edges, and grey color make them first choice decoration of any aquarium. Setting up cobbles in an aquarium may require greater care as heavier ones may crack the glass of aquarium.
Sandstone
Where aquariums have live plants, sandstone might be a better choice as a decoration.
Granite/ Marble
Granite/marble are widely available decorations for an aquarium. These can be stacked to create a beautiful or colorful pattern. In an aquarium, these may be used by the egg-depositing fish as spawning surfaces.
Slate
Slates are also used as spawning surfaces for egg-depositing fish. These provide a beautiful texture to the aquarium. Whereas its sharp edges should be carefully dealt in as these may harm fish.
Lava Rock
Lava rocks may provide a different texture to the aquarium. These are mostly porous and where their weight is less, they might float in water.
Fish tank with sand and rocks
Types of Substrates for Aquariums:
As we know that sand is one of the substrates available to cover the bottom of an aquarium. Some of the popular substrates are as follows:
Silver Sand
This is one of the most widely used aquarium substrates. It provides a more natural feel to the surface of any fish tank as compared to other substrates. Before introducing it to any aquarium, it has to be thoroughly washed.
Silica Sand
Silica sand is as popular as silver sand. It is also thoroughly rinsed before introducing to the aquariums. It is best suited for aquariums with live plants. An adequate quantity has to be layered at the bottom of the fish tank to support the growth of live plants.
Grit
Grit is distinguished by the size of its particles. As compared to silver or silica sands, these are available in a bigger size but are still helpful in the growth of live plants.
Gravels
These are popular due to the variety of colors available. Gravels provoke the colorfulness of any aquarium. These are widely used and provide a beautiful texture to the bottom of the aquariums.
Aquarium with colorful rocks
Maintaining Rocks and Sand in Aquariums
As we understand that before introducing rocks and sand in any aquarium, these need to be thoroughly rinsed and washed. Whereas once these are set up, a keen observation of the gravels and decorations has to be kept to check algae formation or change in coloration. If any change is observed then remove the rocks and thoroughly washed again to remove algae or colorations.
