do you have to have substrate for large cichlids????? I was kinda wondering would it be ok if I put like a bag of beach pebble in my 150 which would obvioulsy not cover even close to the whole tank. It would kinda be like a bare bottom with some rocks spread out just to break up the bare bottom. Like do cichlids need substrate to dig??? one thing i'm worried about is that they may move the little rocks and when they spit them out they will fall on glass bottom would that be dangerous???
Substrate???
- Thread starter Chago09
- Start date
You don't have to have substrate, a lot of people with big fish keep a bare bottom tank to make clean up easier.
That said, I have sand in my 75 gallon and haven't had a problem with it. The fish dig around in it and it doesn't seem to collect anymore crap than gravel.
That said, I have sand in my 75 gallon and haven't had a problem with it. The fish dig around in it and it doesn't seem to collect anymore crap than gravel.
I use sand in both my tanks(fresh and salt). Easy to clean too. I take the tube of the Python and since all the waste stays on top of the sand it gets sucked right up. Once every three weeks I give it a good stir and thats it. The only thing with sand that I recomend is that you keep your filter intakes a little higher.
yeah i would def. have some kind of substrate in there. it's not much harder to clean that bare bottom and the fish really eem to enjoy it.
gravel doesn't show poo as well as bare or sand bottoms
naturalcolored sand is easy to see poo and spot clean. black sand is a little harder but looks better. sand is much more likely to be picked up by your syphon.
gravel doesn't show poo as well as bare or sand bottoms
naturalcolored sand is easy to see poo and spot clean. black sand is a little harder but looks better. sand is much more likely to be picked up by your syphon.
i like to have substarte in my but that is my preference. but if that is from the beach! boil it! or else there may be some problems hidden in those pebbles! (DUN, DUN, DUN, DUN! DOO DOO!)
I always have substrate so I can put big rocks in to make homes for the fish. I have undergravel which helps with the cleaning too. It seems my oscar likes to dig in the gravel a lot and make himself a depression to rest in. I like having gravel and such because it can accent your tank a lot and set a theme. All my gravel is black with one color lightly mixed in.
Its up to you: easy to clean, or more personality for your tank?
Its up to you: easy to clean, or more personality for your tank?