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1. Cultured Gravel
...
is normal aquarium gravel with a layer of beneficial bacteria growing on the surface
of the pieces of gravel.
You can buy normal aquarium gravel in most stores
that sell pet fish. But new gravel in the bag will not be cultured. Sometimes a fish store will
sell you a handful of cultured gravel from one of their aquariums.
Fish bowls need a layer of cultured gravel about 1/4 inch thick, so the bacteria living on the gravel can biologically remove waste from the water in the
fish bowl.
But an aquarium with a power filter and a BIO-Wheel does not need gravel, because the beneficial bacteria grow abundantly on the BIO-Wheel.
A layer of gravel, that is more than 1/4 inch thick, often gets full of uneaten food and causes pollution problems. So don't have a layer of gravel
more than 1/4 inch thick in your freshwater aquarium or in your fish bowl.
If you are a beginner with your first aquarium, be sure you get a filter with a BIO-Wheel and don't put any gravel in your aquarium.
If you like the appearance of gravel, and you've mastered feeding your fish so there are no uneaten bits of fish food to pollute the gravel, then
add a thin layer of gravel not more than 1/4 inch thick.
If you decide to have gravel in your aquarium, use your net to stir it gently to see if the gravel is full of waste. If it is, then you need to
immediately clean your gravel. Click
here for more information about cleaning gravel. In the future be sure your fish eat all the food you
feed them. Click here for more information about feeding fish.
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