New African Tank questions

[toehead11183]

i keep ph at 8.0 and use sand, my fish love the sand.

 

[RonTheRHOM]

why not use sand, they love sand... I only use sand for these guys

Are you trying to wind me up??
I find they prefer medium sized pebbles to sand, ive tried both and pebbles seem to take their preference...thats from my experience.
and its funny to watch them spit pebbles at each other...lol

 

[mike dunagan]

just wondering, not trying to wind anyone up... just egger to find out more...

 

[RonTheRHOM]

just wondering, not trying to wind anyone up... just egger to find out more...

Ok no problem. It was also harder to keep the water parameters when i used sand because it made the PH rise, as my water straight from the tap has a PH of 7

 

[mike dunagan]

that makes a lot of sense. The best thing is to be the PH stable... you are exactly right... In my case my PH is already really high and using pool filter sand it does not case PH to rise... if you are interested in using sand at all, try pool filter sand... I like gravel because it hides the waste better, but I like how easy sand is to clean.

 

[Dreamsofpeace54]

i use a ph buffering sand, my ph is around 8.2

but to answer the question, a normal blue with more blue in it really brings out their colors. I suggest that.

 

[RonTheRHOM]

that makes a lot of sense. The best thing is to be the PH stable... you are exactly right... In my case my PH is already really high and using pool filter sand it does not case PH to rise... if you are interested in using sand at all, try pool filter sand... I like gravel because it hides the waste better, but I like how easy sand is to clean.

Thanks, i'll remember that. I like my gravel though, i use one of those suction hoover things to suck all the waste from the gravel.

 

[mike dunagan]

for cleaning sand I just take the funnel thing off and run the bare hose a little over the top of the sand and it sucks all the waste off the top and leaves the sand behind. I do have gravel in other tanks, since pool sand is only white...

 

[thatonegirl]

I love sand in my tanks. I also use pool filter sand, and I think it's much cleaner, but to each his own....

As far as lighting is concerned, if there are no live plants, the lights are whatever you prefer. I agree with the 50/50 suggestion. It really does wonders for color.

 

[RonTheRHOM]

for cleaning sand I just take the funnel thing off and run the bare hose a little over the top of the sand and it sucks all the waste off the top and leaves the sand behind. I do have gravel in other tanks, since pool sand is only white...

I found white sand gets very dirty and the algae sticks to it a makes it look horrible