Re: Gravel givin me feeding problems

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Posted by Bobble on July 30, 2001 at 04:37:53:

In Reply to: Gravel givin me feeding problems posted by NewtLoverVT on July 29, 2001 at 19:57:26:

I had the same problem (food disappearing). The upside to gravel is that it
has a large surface area and so supports a large amount of beneficial bacteria,
and these give extra stability to the water chemistry, provided the gravel is
"cleaned" occasionally (i.e. big pieces of detritus are removed with a gravel
vac). However, I found it really frustrating when feeding my aquatic newts
because their main diet is earthworms. Removing some of the gravel didn't help
because the worms simply wandered around until they found some gravel.

So I took it all out. Provided you look after the tank carefully (regular water
changes and complete cleanouts as necessary), it's fine. I use an internal power
filter with the outflow pointing straight up out of the water so the flow around
the tank is reduced quite a bit. Strictly speaking, power filters are really
only suitable for newt species that will tolerate some flowing water.

Bob

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: I had the same problem (food disappearing). The upside to gravel is that it : has a large surface area and so supports a large amount of beneficial bacteria, : and these give extra stability to the water chemistry, provided the gravel is : "cleaned" occasionally (i.e. big pieces of detritus are removed with a gravel : vac). However, I found it really frustrating when feeding my aquatic newts : because their main diet is earthworms. Removing some of the gravel didn't help : because the worms simply wandered around until they found some gravel. : So I took it all out. Provided you look after the tank carefully (regular water : changes and complete cleanouts as necessary), it's fine. I use an internal power : filter with the outflow pointing straight up out of the water so the flow around : the tank is reduced quite a bit. Strictly speaking, power filters are really : only suitable for newt species that will tolerate some flowing water. : Bob

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