African Substrate

[amesbien]

Sooooo, i have "natural" colored gravel in my tank now plastic ornaments and plants. This is in my 48 gal with my african. i decided to do a 10 gal with sand and live plants. And its amazing sand is so easy to clean.

Would sand and cichlids together be a bad idea?
and if so natural colored sand or black?

I also am wanting to switch to real rocks and stuff.
so whats the best kind of rock, should i just get some lava rock?

thanks for any advice.

 

[señor_pescados_felices]

Tank:60 gallaons

filtration: emperor 400,Aquaclear 70

substrate:1" of pool filter sand covered by1.5-2" of crushed coral-aragonite mix

aquascaping:150+ LBS of lava rock and various seashells of different shapes and prices

Inhabitants:5 sunshine peacocks, 4 eureka red peacocks,2 orange blossom peacock,3 brichardi,10 black calvus,2 eye biters,and,yes,a fire eel.(I know I know but theres an explanation,and hes doing fine).
all will be in a bigger tank by next summer dont worry.

 

[amesbien]

acutally it doesnt

you have curshed coral on top of your sand, i want just sand, and should it be black or natural? U did answer the lavarock question?

And if i was going to get a canister filter for the 48, how many turnovers would i have to do, im doing aobut 4x right now whioch is bad.

 

[SinisterKisses]

If you want a 'natural' looking tank, use sand. Most of the african cichlid keepers I know use sand in all their tanks, including myself. So no, using sand with cichlids isn't a bad idea. Personally, I prefer the natural coloured sand, but black can look nice too, especially depending on what species you're keeping. As for rocks, personally, I don't like lava rock. For one, its too sharp, and fish can easily hurt themselves on it. For two, I just don't think its all too natural looking. Honestly, all the rocks I have in my tanks are ones picked out from my backyard or somewhere nearby. Just make sure to clean them very well, and don't pick them out from places like parks where they likely use fertilizers.

 

[thing124]

i have sand in my cichlid tank my fish seem to really like it, cichlids are diggers they dig nests in the substrate plus i really enjoy watching them fill thier mouths with sand and spit it around everywhere

 

[Tank Predator]

I HAVE SAND MIXED WITH CRUSHED CORAL WITH LACE ROCK

 

[amesbien]

Beautiful tank tank pred

yea im definitly swtiching voer and getting a canister filter.

thanks again guys

 

[thing124]

wow nice tank you got there pred impressive indeed

 

[Tank Predator]

MUCH THANKS GUYS I PLAN ON MOVEING THEM ALL INTO A 180 AS SOON AS I SELL OFF THE FISH I HAVE IN THERE NOW ILL POST PIC'S WHEN I CAN

 

[Scotty]

Great tank there, Predator. When you move to your bigger tank don't add any extra rocks. Move those in this tank. Allow for some open swimming space between piles at either end.
I have found that my fish all sift through the sand shortly after feeding. I initially started out with gravel in my first tank and then did a sand/coral in the second tank. Sand is a lot less work and the bactreia seem to thrive a lot better in the sand conditions.
TOOOOO many rocks spoiling the first pics.