How much gravel will you need?

[Lady Hobbs]

Easy way to figure this out is to multiple the width by the length of your tank and drop the last number. Example: A 55 gallon tank is 48 x 13 so you mulitiply that which will give you 624. Drop the last number which will give you about 62 pounds of gravel at 2 inches deep......rounded off to 60 pounds.

If you want your gravel 3 inches deep, simply add 1/2 to the final number: in this case 60 pounds of gravel plus 30 pounds more = 90 pounds.

This takes the guess work out of buying gravel.

[Severus]

Thanks Hobbs. I want to start a smaller tank with a sand substrate. This will come in handy

[Full3R]

How much gravel would i need for a tank 6' x 2' on the bottom for and cichlid set up (oscars)

[turbomkt]

Actually, that's a nice guesstimate, but some substrates will be different. Sand is much more compact so it's going to be heavier to fill the same area. Large gravel will probably be a little less.

Then there are some of the DIY substrates like Soilmaster Select. A single 50lbs bag will do nicely for a planted 75g tank. It's a really light substrate at a great cost ;)

Something else that helps are some of the calculators on sites like PlantedTank.net. Here's their substrate calculator (http://www.plantedtank.net/substratecalculator.html).

[Lady Hobbs]

I love that! And love it even more as it gave me the same answer as I had. Imagine that! But you are so correct. Subrtrate is different and I just figured for the normal stuff.

Excellent link my man!

I even added it to your "reputation".

[turbomkt]

Glad you liked it. They've got a couple calculators on their site that are pretty good.

[Lady Hobbs]

The link you have take the guesswork right out of it. I prefer the finer stuff and black....both of which you can't find in town, of course.

I am just having the hardest time getting the larger aquarium here! I have to reply on my son who works until dark every night and then obviously doesn't want to drive the extra 30 miles to my house with an aquarium and take the time to set it up.

He just returned from 8 days in the Bahamas where he stayed at the Alantis. He said they have some of the largest aquariums in the world. He really enjoyed them.