Rescaped aquarium with plants and cichlids

[Jordan82594]

Hi guys, I recently rescaled my tank with fluorite sand and cichlid sand along with rocks and plants. I have a few questions about what I should do with everything. I know I’m trying my luck with this setup and cichlids. I have placed rocks above the fluorite where the roots are so they can’t get to them. One question I have is should I put a top layer of eco complete gravel the I have over the fluorite sand so it doesn’t make as much of a mess as it does if they play around in it? Which leads to my next question. My tank is cloudy as expected due to the new substrate. My question is will the fluorite eventually stop clouding my tank everytime it is touched? It goes away pretty quickly but it’s just a hassle and I assume adding a gravel layer over it would help. And finally, how often should I replace my filter floss for the tank?

Thanks for any help you guys can give I really appreciate it. I have attached pictures of my cloudy water and the general setup. One is after I moved around the plants and the other is about 6 hours later.

 

[fisheatfish]

I don’t see the need for eco complete. Cichlids will be cichlids...sifting through sand/gravel is what they do. With cichlids, I’d stick with anubias, java fern and few others that do not require planting within the substrate. Cloudiness will clear up in time with water changes and filter floss can be rinsed off frequently.

Note...if that’s an amazon sword in the back left corner, you might want to add more sand as they are heavy rooters...root tabs are a must and dosing ferts in the water column will help as you add more plants.

 

[Jordan82594]

I don’t see the need for eco complete. Cichlids will be cichlids...sifting through sand/gravel is what they do. With cichlids, I’d stick with anubias, java fern and few others that do not require planting within the substrate. Cloudiness will clear up in time with water changes and filter floss can be rinsed off frequently.

Note...if that’s an amazon sword in the back left corner, you might want to add more sand as they are heavy rooters...root tabs are a must and dosing ferts in the water column will help as you add more plants.

Gotcha. Thanks I really appreciate it. I have added root tabs and doses as well but I do need to add more sand. I don’t know much about swords. I usually just use Anubias and java fern. Thought i’d Try my luck and see how they handle it. Again, thanks for the help.

 

[fisheatfish]

Gotcha. Thanks I really appreciate it. I have added root tabs and doses as well but I do need to add more sand. I don’t know much about swords. I usually just use Anubias and java fern. Thought i’d Try my luck and see how they handle it. Again, thanks for the help.

My pleasure.

Good idea to use an empty 2 liter soda or water bottle to add more sand. Rinse off sand, fill bottle with sand, top off with water and hold upside down in aquarium to keep dirty particles from coming out as sand falls out.

 

[Jordan82594]

Stayed pretty clean and clear for anyone who may come across this thread in the future. So far so good. They haven’t uprooted any plants or anything quite yet and the plants are doing pretty well so far.