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OK, I thought. Here's where I can save some money. There's plenty of gravel around my home. I won't take any from the road because it's all dirty, but there is some nice clean gravel down by the lake.
Well it turns out that I shouldn't use that gravel and, about the only free choice I have is the color and size, and even that has its issues -- fish adjust to the color of the environment, so light gravel could mean washed out colors on the fish.
Gravel is really more than a decoration. It provides a place to anchor live plants and other decorations, and is a good surface for the good bacteria that eat all of the bad ammonia and nitrites. It appears that 1.5 pounds of gravel per gallon of water is a good rule of thumb. Should be 2" deep. This adds about 50 pounds to the total tank weight!
The type of gravel used will also affect the pH and hardness of the water. I could have actually use my beach gravel or sand, but I should first soak it in a nitric acid solution. Forget abou' it, I'll buy it! WAIT, that gravel also needs to be cleaned! These fish better be appreciative.
The gravel cleaning process should be familiar to everyone who has prepared steamed clams. I dump about 5 or so pounds into a bucket, add water, stir and rinse. Repeat until the water is clear (or, until the clams spit all of their sand).
Because the gravel forms a surface to which good bacteria will attach, it is a good idea to try and get gravel that already has these bacteria -- usually taken directly from another tank. (The problem is to convince my neighbor to give me his tank gravel - fat chance.)
Pump. Me. Up. talks about oxygen in the water, and surprisingly turns out to be fairly simple. Let's Get Some Fish! takes you back to the start.
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