Substrateless tank

[Capt_Rick_Dixie]

It's been a few days since I tossed some sand in the bottom of the little dudes tank. I've actually noticed a huge difference in his demeanor. He's considerably more confident as he moves around his tank. He's even starting to buzz up to the front of the glass when I come into the room. In my opinion a bare bottom tank would be fine for some species or during a quarantine period, after that it would certainly be beneficial to the animal to have some type of substrate.

 

[Morticia]

It's been a few days since I tossed some sand in the bottom of the little dudes tank. I've actually noticed a huge difference in his demeanor. He's considerably more confident as he moves around his tank. He's even starting to buzz up to the front of the glass when I come into the room. In my opinion a bare bottom tank would be fine for some species or during a quarantine period, after that it would certainly be beneficial to the animal to have some type of substrate.

This post is pretty old. Majora my Fahaka has been in a tank with a sand bottom for a while now. It really turned him around and his personality came out. I had such an issue with parasites I don't regret having him in a glass bottom tank for a while. I think it really helped me get the issue under control. But they are clearly more comfortable with a sand bottom. One of Majoras favorite things is burrowing into the sand.

 

[Morticia]

I wish I had a more recent picture of him burrowing, but now whenever I come near his tank he swims up to beg for more food.

 

[Capt_Rick_Dixie]

Whoops! I must have bumped into this thread and forgot to look and see how old it was! haha

Majora is looking great and that tank looks a lot better with the sand imo!

 

[Morticia]

Whoops! I must have bumped into this thread and forgot to look and see how old it was! haha

Majora is looking great and that tank looks a lot better with the sand imo!

He will be a year old next month. He's small for his age which is concerning. However I swear he grew two inches already this month. Maybe a growth spurt is coming. I recently introduced cichlids to his tank and it's gone surprising well. Hopefully he will have a very large tank to call home soon. I'm looking a minimum of 150. Fingers crossed I get it in the very near future. He's been a blast to raise once he got past his sickly days as a baby. He's still a baby, but he's much hardier now. Although I do miss him being tiny he was just too cute. Now he's the size of my hand

 

[Capt_Rick_Dixie]

He will be a year old next month. He's small for his age which is concerning. However I swear he grew two inches already this month. Maybe a growth spurt is coming. I recently introduced cichlids to his tank and it's gone surprising well. Hopefully he will have a very large tank to call home soon. I'm looking a minimum of 150. Fingers crossed I get it in the very near future. He's been a blast to raise once he got past his sickly days as a baby. He's still a baby, but he's much hardier now. Although I do miss him being tiny he was just too cute. Now he's the size of my hand

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He's adorable! My baby is definitely still in his sickly baby days, although it seems as if he's grown about half an inch since I got him. When Majora was little was he a finicky eater? Mine will eat ghost shrimp just fine if I hold them for him (usually he can't catch them by himself ) but anything else he takes a bite of and spits it out.

 

[Morticia]

He's adorable! My baby is definitely still in his sickly baby days, although it seems as if he's grown about half an inch since I got him. When Majora was little was he a finicky eater? Mine will eat ghost shrimp just fine if I hold them for him (usually he can't catch them by himself ) but anything else he takes a bite of and spits it out.

Majora wouldn't eat anything other than live ghost shrimp, blood worms, and snails. I never held the shrimp. I didn't want my hand associated with food. The first shrimp took a few days for him to catch, but he learned and has become a very skilled hunter. Now he likes crab legs and will eat frozen shrimp, and pretty much anything that goes into the tank. At one point every local store had ran out of ghost shrimp.