sand or gravel or both with new world cichlids

[Experiment397]

hey i am almost done setting up my 125,like substrate and 1filter left to setup, for some new world cichlids, and catfish, silver dollars, and a sa stonefish. would sand or gravel be good, i have thought of doing sand with patches of gravel aroung the artificial plants. would that be good?

 

[FishingOut]

The gravel will get throw everywhere and make things look dirtier. Id say pure sand. Gravel and sand dont mix because gravel floats on sand.

 

[Loves severums]

if u get a geophagus then sand.

 

[Natalie]

Both sand and gravel have their +s and -s. Definitely don't mix the two, because cichlids will rearrange the substrate according to how they want it, so the gravel won't stay where you want it and, like FishingOut said, it'll end up looking messy.

I like sand best for CA cichlids because it looks very clean, detritus stays on top so it's easy to vacuum away, and it's fun to watch the fish burrow and move the sand.

Gravel is nice because it tends to anchor plants better than sand, and there's no risk of it being sucked up into your filter unlike sand. However, I've come to hate how much detritus gets trapped in gravel. It's never possible to get it 100% clean with vacuuming, unlike sand. So, my vote would be for sand.

Both light sand and black Tahitian moon sand are beautiful. I tend to go with pool filter sand from Home Depot because it's very cheap, but Tahitian moon sand is gorgeous if you can afford it for that huge tank.

 

[Experiment397]

ok the sand i will use is the crystal river sand, and some moonlight sand, don't know the company. dr foster and smith sells it though. one is a larger grain then the other is that still ok?

 

[Sarah88]

yeah mixing sands is ok, but i would suggest against the moon sand, while it looks gorgeous and i have been tempted many a time despite its high price, it is very small grained and many people on here who use it have said that while it looks great it is soooo small grained that it gets stirred up way to easily and gets sucked up the filter intake, and if your doing a white sand then i would suggest to get pool filter sand instead of ordering expensive sand online. it looks great and has a large enough grain that it doesnt get sucked up into intakes or anything, but dont use play sand because it is small grained like the moon sand and gets stirred up very easily

 

[jksjtr]

I would go with sand stirctly because its more attractive to look at. Its a little but harder to clean but very visually pleasing. Also for me it seems that plants flourish in sand

 

[Experiment397]

all of the plants are fake, and the moonlight sand is not the black one, it is a tan with black and white specks in it. they are actually not that expensive, cause the lfs carries them. the moonlight sand is not super fine like the black stuff, it is like desert sand. i think this is going to be ok, right?

 

[Loves severums]

all of the plants are fake, and the moonlight sand is not the black one, it is a tan with black and white specks in it. they are actually not that expensive, cause the lfs carries them. the moonlight sand is not super fine like the black stuff, it is like desert sand. i think this is going to be ok, right?

it is called Caribsea Eco-complete Live African Cichlid Sand?

 

[Sarah88]

as far as i know there is no such thing as "live" sand for freshwater, its just a sales ploy. all the special african cichlid sand does is buffer the water to a higher pH