Grrrravel or Sannnnd? Learn me the right pike substrate!
- Thread starter BobB
- Start date
That depends on whether or not you want to plant your tank or not. Personally I like my tanks planted (cause pikes love plants and are not really uprooters like other large cichlids) so I use planting substrate (schultz aquatic plant soil+some Eco-Complete+some fine natural gravel is my preference). Regular gravel is cool too, as well as sand, stone etc... (pikes dont like any gaudy or flourescent colored gravel and niether do any of us crenicichlaholics). One of us(Scat- I think) even uses tile as ''substrate''. So you have a bunch of choices.
Most of us 'Crenicichlaholics' like to use sand. It looks more natural, much easier to clean, and the fish seem to like it as well. You could go Robs route, or do what Scat does in one of his tanks and cut ceramic tiles to fit snuggly in the tank...basically a bare bottom that looks better. 
This is totally off subject, but I really hope that we coin the phrase 'Crenicichlaholic'...lol. It needs to be added to the dictionary...
This is totally off subject, but I really hope that we coin the phrase 'Crenicichlaholic'...lol. It needs to be added to the dictionary...
I don't think it is a big deal really, use what you think looks good. I use gravel and sand in my pike tanks, but the gravel is less of a hassle and doesn't get as many "dead spots" in it.
I personally like gravel. When I vacuum my tank I vacuum the whole substrate anyway so I don't worry about dead spots. If you keep multiple large cichlids in a tank with sand the wast can be unsitely floating around on top of the sand. Plus you must put your intakes ( I use XP4s on 125) higher off the substrate so as not to draw sand into the impeller and ruin it.
Plus I like black, I believe it makes the colors pop.
In the end it is a personal preference. Your tank, Your taste.
Plus I like black, I believe it makes the colors pop.
In the end it is a personal preference. Your tank, Your taste.
ShadowStryder;1134098; said:
Black sand rocks!!! The raising the intakes thing isn't too horribly bad. I kept my XP3's about 4" off the substrate no probs.
To each their own though, I love sand and will probably stick that way. Best way to get rid of dead spots is to not put too much sand in there and get cichlids...LOL! Cuz they are always moving and shifting it. Geophagus and Satanoperca are best at this though, some of which go GREAT with pikes!