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I'm in the process of setting up a new tank that will house, among other fish, clown loaches.

While trying to decide what gravel/sand to use, I've come across the notion of gravels being
"Soft Belly Safe" (or not) from the CaribSea site. For example: http://www.caribsea.com/pages/products/super_nat.html

Is this a real concern, or just marketing hype?

If real, unless told by the manufacturer, how would you know whether a gravel or sand is safe, for example, for my clown loaches?

In particular, I have #0 gravel that I got last time I was at the store. Is it "Soft Belly Safe"?

Thanks

#0 is a silicate gravel - which is quite hard and angular - so it might be considered scratchy. However, the small size of #0 rather makes that unimportant. Any scratches will be minute, and more importantly the gravel is not large enough to damage the loach's barbels. So, I think that #0 is a good choice. I would not use larger sharp gravels (especially plant gravels like flourite) as you might risk damage to the loach's delicate face.

I kept stingrays for years and there is a lot of talk about gravel for them too. Silica #2 worked well for my motoros and I think #0 should be fine for your loaches. For more delicate species and for fry, going graveless may be the best answer though.

-Sam

Hi Sam,

I've got sand that I like - but not enough (currently unused) for the new tank. However I use that same sand in fry and other tanks.

Maybe I'll take what's in the fry tanks and combined with the currently unused amount it will be enough for the new tank. Additionally, the fry tank sand will help seed the new tank's biological filter.

I've also setup a formerly unused canister filter to the tank currently housing the loaches and others. My plan is to move that filter to the new tank. Wrt to the biological filter: How long do I need to run it on the existing tank to ensure it is ready to be used on the new tank?

Thanks!

always a good idea to test water for
pH, ammonia, nitrIte, etc...
but in general
you don't need to worry too much as long as you transfer some good bacteria from the established tank to the new tank

...as far as gravel goes
we've never had a problem with "scratch y ness"
from any brand of gravel I've sold

if you are seeing deterioration on the skin, barbels, or fins of the fish
it is more likely to be a bacterial infection than a wound from gravel...
don't use ground glass obviously

I HAVE had problems with gravel injuring corydoras barbells - the flourite gravel and too-large silica gravel. But not with the stuff we have been talking about.
-Sam