Best color sand for Electric yellow cichlids?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Ok, I had to copy/paste as I am not at home. Here's a impromtu shot of an EL and N. leleupi contrasting against crushed coral which you were thinking about:



I have black sand in my Truvu 75g long which also has a black back. I don't keep my EL's in there but I could try to put one in and take a shot of him. Trust me, it doesn't work as the definition of their own black marking gets blurred/lost with the black sand and backing.

Once home, I can take some shots of my EL's against the CC.
 
Maich;3466189; said:
Ok so if i went with the black sand, what would be the best looking/cheapest thing to get?

And if i went with white, what kind? like pool filter? orr.... crushed coral? And where could i purchase it?

Thanks ahead of time.
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I believe that 3M has stopped making their black color quartz sand. It's going to be hard to find.

You can get pool sand at any HD or Lows.

Crushed coral at any decent LFS.
 
Wow. That crushed coral looks... Orange? WTF.. i thought it was white....


I would really appreciate the pic of the Electric yellows in a black background.
 
And one other thing... Right now i have my electric yellows in a 20 gallon with like a 6.8 - 7PH, and if i put crushed coral in wont it PH shock them? Because they are still quite small... I'm not sure if i should just gradually introduce it or what...
 
Maich;3466363; said:
And one other thing... Right now i have my electric yellows in a 20 gallon with like a 6.8 - 7PH, and if i put crushed coral in wont it PH shock them? Because they are still quite small... I'm not sure if i should just gradually introduce it or what...
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Yikes, that's a pretty low Ph you are keeping those guys in!!!!!

No, the CC will not shock your fish, it takes time to buffer the water. Your water chemistry is way off.....and you need to buffer it slowly if you want happy EL's. Once your tank is established and the ph is closer to 8.0, you want to do frequent, less volume W/C's to keep the ph stable in the tank. I assuming that straight out of the tap is in the nuetral range?
 
yup im a big fan of the 3 dollar 50 pound bags of play sand from home depot if the water chem is right they will be beautiful just the same
 
Maich;3466346; said:
Wow. That crushed coral looks... Orange? WTF.. i thought it was white....

Orange???? Looks pretty off white to me. Go to your LFS and browse through all the CC that they sell. What you see is what you get. Rince the CC very well in a 5 g bucket...rinse it until the water is perfectly clear.


I would really appreciate the pic of the Electric yellows in a black background.
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I will make an attempt to move one of my EL's into the 75....won't be easy...I hate catching fish.

I'll also take a better shot of one of my EL's with the CC so you can see the contrast.
 
Yeah i know the ph is incredibly low... Thats why i am doing this. I've pretty much decided that im just going to get crushed coral... or should i get aragonite? which is better?

So, thanks for all your help guys.

P.S id really like to see the black sand with EL's though.
 
crushed coral can cut up the mouths of sifting fish. I would go with aragonite...

PS just look for my photo thread in the african cichlidmedia section to see sand with black background
 
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