How much gravel does a 180 gallon fresh water aquarium need?

I have heard anywhere between 1 to 3 inches but that sounds like alot. Also, how often should it be cleaned or is there a mixture of fish and plants that would allow it not to be cleaned %26amp; self-sustaining?

How much gravel does a 180 gallon fresh water aquarium need?
Aquariums need at least 2 inches of gravel to look their best. Here's the formula: You need 1 pound of gravel for every gallon of your tank, to make 1 inch. So to get 2 inches of gravel you need 2 pounds for every gallon. So you need 360 pounds of gravel for get 2 inches worth in the bottom.



I know this sounds like a ton, but aquariums are not by any means cheap. especailly one that large. They are an expensive hobbie to get into, if your want to care for them properly.



Sorry but there is no such thing as self sustaining and wont have to be cleaned. The most simple and easy way to clean your tank and your gravel is to get a gravel vac. it's a long hose that conects to your sink and by the use of water pressure doubles and a vacume and water pump. You use it as a vacume to suck out waste from your gravel by putting it down into the gravel and pushing it around all through the gravel. This will make your water cloudy at first. When your finished with the gravel, leave the vac in the tank and drain 20% of the tank water and replace, your filter would filter out anything else and your water should clear in less than 24 hours. In a 180 gallon tank you should clean your gravel at least 1 time every 2 to 3 months depending on the type of fish you decide to keep and how much wasit they put off. You should change at least 20% of your water every month in a tank that size. There are fish and plants help that can help with this, live plants will help in filtering your water. But you would need to visit with your local aquarium store and have them help you decide on some, many aquarium plants are outlawed in various states. So it would depend on what is availble where you live.



Also there are fish that help also, some of the basic's are Plecostomus, or Plecos they are algee eating fish, most people know these fish by seeing them stuck to the side of a tank before. Cat fish, hi fin banded sharks, and other bottom feeders will also help since they will eat the uneaten food that sinks to the bottom of your tank. Snails will help also, but be leary with some snails you may buy 1 buy end up with 50 later. And some snails such as apple snails are outlawed in many states also. Catfish can also be aggressive and will sometimes eat other fish. So keep these fish close to the same size as the rest of your fish.



Hope this helped and good luck.
Reply:If you want live plants, 3 inches is good. Any less, and the plants will be difficult to keep in the gravel (trust me - when I had 1.5" they popped out all the time, drove me insane). Although if you DON'T have plants, it doesn't matter how much gravel you put in.



ALL tanks need to be cleaned regularly. Period. Nitrates build up and so does fish poop - it needs to be removed on a weekly basis. If you understock your tank, you can get by with doing a 30% water change every other week, but if you have a decent amount of fish, you'll have to do weekly water changes.



Cleaning shouldn't be too tough once you get the hang of it. Get a syphon tube and get in there good into the gravel. Once the plants overgrow the tank you won't be able to do much gravel vac, so get some malaysian trumpet snails to keep the gravel clean. Just drain about 30% of the water into a bucket and dump - or use it to water your house / garden plants (free fertilizer).



Get a python tube to save time - you can hook it to your faucet and poor the new water right into the tank without having to use buckets.



As for the sand comment - nooo sand isn't easier to clean ;) Because the gravel tube sucks it up algae seems to grow much more easily on a smooth layer of sand than it does on rocky gravel.
Reply:Usually it's recommended 1/2 to 1 inch for gravel, but you can go with however much you want. It's not written in stone "you must have this much gravel" lol. You could make it heavier on one side, and less on the other, etc. You could even leave it a bare bottom if you wanted, I've done it before, and it didn't look bad. If you're going to use plants, you'll want it deep enough for them to root. You're gravel will eventually end up containing a lot of the beneficial bacteria in the tank. When you clean it, I'd recommend doing a small water change once a week. Clean one side of the gravel in the tank one week, then the following week do the other side. It's hard to make a tank self sustaining, I did read an article on something similar to that. This lady basically has heavily planted tanks, and really heavily planted! I'll put the link on the bottom, but it takes a lot of work/care to start. Depending on what you plan to put in, if it's going to be mostly non to semi aggressive fish, you could go with a huge shoal of corydora cats(cory cats) to help clean the bottom as well as a pleco. But, you'll still need to do the gravel vacs/cleaning to get the food that settles down in between the gravel. That's why I"m so not a fan of gravel, I prefer sand bottoms, so much easier to clean. Good luck with your tank, I'd love to be able to set one that large up in my house. But, don't trust the floors.....



http://naturalaquariums.com/



http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_2/c...



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Reply:For a standard 180, I would go with 60-80lbs. I prefer thinner substrate(less anerobic pockets). Plants can and will suffice for substrate "non-cleaning", but this would be the result of a ton of plants with CO2 injections, ferts, etc. You would need a bed of atleast 3" where your plants are. Nothin better than a well planted tank, but I prefer fish. While the question is up, I would like to explain the "myths" of substrates. This would fall under NON-HEAVILY planted tanks. Sand is great, but if too deep can cause anerobic pockets, harder to clean, and causes impellar problems on some filters if restarted too soon. Need to stir often by hand if sand is over an inch. Gravel is great also, but please realise that if your tank is well CYCLED(8+ months), you do not need to gravel vac just a % of the tank. The Benifical Bacteria in the gravel(on deco and glass and filters) is basically "glued" to the stuff. You can G vac all you want, the bacteria will remain. I'm just trying to get the point across that tank maintenence is the best thing you can do. Take that 180 and fill it with Frontosa, do your weekly water changes, 1" of substrate, and get back to me. That size tank deserves some nice fish= African cichlids and Synodontis catfish.
Reply:1# per gal. a healthy tank with a good filter will stay clean. don't overfeed (the biggest problem for bad water) feed only what fish will consume in 5 min. every other day.

try whisper outside filter(s).

gradually slope gravel -front to back- less in front most waste will come to front. (waste, food etc.) where you can see it.
Reply:I'd say around 1/2 an inch to an inch
Reply:3/4 of an inch would be sufficient. if you want live plants, add 1" to 1.5".
Reply:i read somewhere that you need a pound of gravel for every gallon of water you use/your tank can hold. i don't know how thick the bed will be because i don't know the dimensions of the tank, and even if i did, i don't feel like doing the math.



also, there is never really a mixture of plants and animals that will allow it to be self-cleaning, but i would suggest cleaner shrimp for saltwater and marsh shrimp for freshwater so you dont have to clean as often
Reply:My advice comes from a local japanese goldfish guru who has successfully raised and sold prize goldfish for over 40 years. He says you need a lot of tightly fitting substrate to capture the beneficial bacteria. His preference is 2 lbs. per gallon of water or about a good 4 inches, which is what I now use. I used a lot less before talking with him and always had problems with water quality but, I have not had any bad readings and bad water quality since I started using this method. The less substrate you have, the more you will need to rely on heavy duty filters for producing your beneficial bacteria. Nothing is completely self-sustaining, but if you keep doing water changes and testing and trying out different plants, you will eventually find a rhythm and a system of what works best for you that, at least, minimizes the work.
Reply:i wouls say about 70-80 pounds