Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So, I'm moving my little spec into a 120 gallon fish tank. I've kept baby aliigators before (who are now FAR too big for a fish tank), and I kept them with sand on the bottom of the water part of the tank. Anyone do anything different? Gravel? Bare bottom tanks?

For something small I would go with the bare bottom and brick for basking. I feed my little guys mazuri and it really fouls up the water. I would never choose a substrate unless the water could be filtered or cleaned properly.
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1.0 Albino American alligator, "Smoke"
1.1 American alligator,"Al Bite Ya & Molly"
1.1 Purple Albino Reticulated Pythons, "Gumbo & Abita"
0.1 Eastern Gaboon Viper, "Gabbie" Recently passed away at 24 years old
Help me find this snake!

go bare glass, you will thank your self later! you could use that colored painters tape on the bottom glass (on the dry side of course) to give your tank bottom a not so plain look.
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Great Lakes Zoological

Thanks guys. I ended up going with a bare bottom tank. When I had the alligator inside, we used sand, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized how often I had to clean that tank even with filtration. Right now, I've got the guy in a 120, bare bottom, with a nice HUGE floating piece of drift wood, some water lettuce and water hyacinth, and a solid internal filter. Water is staying crystal clear and he's got space to hide if he wants to or be out in the open.

I'm going to have to try the bare bottom on my next one. I have an aquarium now until I get his next large enclosure. But I have fish and tiny lobsters, plants and gravel on the bottom. I made it like a miniature ecosystem and he seems to love it. The fish have lots of hiding spots on the bottom so they have lasted pretty well. But I also hand feed him so he only grabs one when it swims right into him. I got really lucky though and my friend had a brand new $500 fluval FX5 filter he hadn't used. But it has kept my tank really clean. I still clean the bottom every couple of weeks or two, but it's gotten to be a big hobby so I don't mind any of it.
On my next enclosure I'm going with at least a 6 foot circular water trough for his inside home and I will keep it bare. with no gravel or just a few fish if any.