African Cichlid Substrate ?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
web2844 said:
I really don't think it matters, if you have beautiful healthy fish they look good in with light or dark substrate.
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Actually, some fish are stressed by the coloration of their substrates. I'm not necessarily talking about the light vs dark just the coloration. It's been a few years, but I remember an article about some wild africans with some like neon gravel. What's funny is that as far as rockwork goes they don't mind substitutions. I used to have a link with pictures of them using skulls/bones of hundreds of killed humans as shelters.
 
I prefer white sand as it works with more colors in fish in my opinion, but I have kept brighter peacocks and mbuna with black sand and it look awesome
 
As for your background, I don't know much about painting the back of your tank. But another option is to get a cheap petsmart black background. Spray cooking oil on the back of the tank, stick the background on, and use a credit card to get out the air bubbles. It can take a while to bet out all the air bubbles, but it looks great once you are done.
 
So it's ok to just use regular playground sand? I'm setting a new tank up and am planning on using crushed coral but i would be interested in trying a mix.
 
Thanks for that link my lfs had some of that sand in stock so I grabbed it. I am going to try mixing that sand with the crushed coral I have. I like my lfs but I am really amazed at the amount of help a newbie like myself can get from you guys here. Thanks again
 
I just use playground gravel in all my tanks. I know it's not natural environment. . . but then neither are plants, and the heavy gravel helps keep the plants rooted even with the biggest cichlids in there. . .
 
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