[ikk157]

Also if you have bigger fish then it's better to have a barebottom tank. I'm talking about fish bigger than 8 inches or so. It makes to easier to clean the tank as well as more space for the fish to swim. I have big Goldfish so they are in barebottom tanks. Unfortunatly I lost 2 of my favorites recently. It was a hot day and I was away at work from morning to evening. For some unknown reason 8 hour power cut has happened. 2 of my biggest Orandas were dead by the time I was back home. One of them were a massive 12 inch single tail Oranda which was grown from one of the 5 eggs survived in main tank. Something like this happened in last year too. I was not home and there had been a long power cut. Lost a huge female Black Oranda.

I think I won't be buying anymore Goldfish. I want start a planted comiunity in my 4 feet main tank. But I don't think I can do it anytime soon since I do have bunch of Goldfish there as well as some in 2 others tanks outside. Not to mention tank full of 1-2 inches size Goldfish fry.

As much as bare bottom tanks give the fish more space to swim. I really don’t recommend them.

Many species of fish don’t have teeth, and hence they rely on gravel to “chew” their food. That’s exactly why you tend to observe them “eating” gravel and eventually spitting it out, they’re not mistaking it for food. They’re using it to break the food they’ve eaten into smaller bits, giving the effect of chewing the food.

Moreover, gravel in fish tanks tends to hide any poop or food remnants that have sunk into the bottom and aren’t within the reach of the filter. This looks much more appealing then having a pile of poop on the bottom of a bare bottom tank. It also plays a role in the break down of the poop and eaten food.

In addition, it increases the surface area for good bacteria to grow. Now i do have ceramic pieces in my filter which also do just that, but gravel tends to also help.