Question about food in large gravel

[coen]

Hi everyone,

I have a question; why would one go with large(r) gravel or pebbles, when food will get between it easily and rot away? I see a lot of people with larger gravel, so I must be missing something

 

[l.]

Food and waste does get stuck in the substrate. The solution is to "vacuum" the gravel periodically with a siphon - which, really, is a good idea to do no matter what size your substrate is.

People use large gravel because it's too big for newts to swallow by mistake while eating. Fine sand is also an option - you can just suck food and waste up from on top of the sand with a turkey baster.

 

[coen]

Turkey basters are hard to find here in holland I guess, never came across one!

I use a siphon to do the water changes, and use that to clean the poop if it's still there, otherwise it ain't that bad if some stays in the sand right? Will the plants use it?

I understand that it's either big or sand, but with my axolotls, I'd have to have huge pebbles to be sure they won't swallow it