Do you use gravel or not?

I decided to switch my tank from a barebottom to gravel. I have 4 chinese fire bellies in a 10 gallon tank, I change the water regularly and have a filter which keeps the water clean, but set up enough objects in the tank to have a minimal current.

The newts spend some time partially out of water, but not a lot. The bare bottom is easier to clean, but the lack of gravel means that not as many good bacteria colonies are going to build up.

I put in gravel and... MAN do the newts like it! The difference is clear, the newts spend way more time on the bottom, now that they have something to grip onto. Even though the current was very, very gentle I am guessing that they did not like having nothing to grip onto. With the gravel, they spend way more time at the very bottom and overall, seem happier.

Thoughts from other folks on the merits of gravel or bare bottom?

I had bare bottom for a while, but decided I didn't like it very much, even with the easy cleaning. I use sand as a substrate- I like it much better than gravel and in my opinion it is easier to keep clean.

Both sand and gravel work well in my experience. The main problem is ingestion with gravel, and anaerobic conditions with sand. With firebellies, I can't imagine ingestion being a problem, but it's a completely different scenario with something like axolotls. If you use sand, don't make it too deep and you should be fine.

I've used both methods with success, though sand is a huge problem with cleaning out.

I use gravel with newts and they do get more exercise digging around for "lost" bloodworm.

I used to use gravel, but hated it. It wasn't very attractive. Now I use a bare-bottom tank.

I think gravel is OK for adult newts. Having gravel does mean that you cannot use live blackworms as food. It also means that you need to have a siphon with a gravel-washing attachment in order to clean the tank properly. As Pete mentioned, thin layer of gravel is much better than a thick layer.

I use a thin layer of gravel in the aquatic tanks. As already mentioned accidental ingestion with resulting impaction and death is a danger however. I once lost a rare and beautiful Tylototriton taliangensis this way.
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