Glass beads as substrate?

[Ashton]

I've just been bought an AquaEl 37 Bowl, and love it. I'ts only 25 litre, so I thought I'd set it up with a small shoal of Boraras or Microrasbora, just putting in some Anubias. I would have liked it for just a Betta, but the surface is a bit too rough.

My problem is substrate, being a bowl it only has a small base area, and although sand would look OK I'm not a big fan of it as I never think I get it clean enough. I'd like a bit of a change from gravel and was wondering if those big glass beads that used to be popular would do? I realise that being glass they wouldn't hold bacteria, but there wouldn't be much bacteria in ordinary substrate anyhow.

I'd be grateful for any comments and opinions thumbs2:

[gm72]

You can absolutely use glass beads as a substrate as long as they aren't painted as the paint might contain toxins.

[~Col~]

Yes you can. I've used clear glass "stones" throughout my 4 foot tank. They will eventually grow algae, but they still look good.

[AndorranPrince]

And just a note; anubias does eventually get larger than that tank. Crypt, crystalwort and Hornwort are my favorites for that kind of tank.

[Ashton]

Thanks for that, I'm now on the lookout for black glass :hmm3grin2orange:

Thanks for the info on the plants, I'll start off with the Anubias as I've got loads in my big tank, but I'll know what to look out for in the future thumbs2: