What type of substrate is best for large cichlids (festae) ?

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philipraposo1982

philipraposo1982

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I am currently using some National geographic black sand. Its nice and all and not too fine. Problem is its not very heavy and every time I try and vacuum I end up sucking up lots of substrate.

I was thinking about switching to a thin layer of a gravel (natural colors) which would I hope be better for vacuuming as it should be substantially heavier. Would this be okay to do?

Is fine grain sand like substrates better for big cichlids? I know some fish like to move substrate around, does the heavier gravel prevent this natural behavior?

Thanks in advance.
 
This is probably not a direct answer, but I always like to scape tanks, similar to what I'd find for whatever species it is I'm keeping, in nature.
To me this means using pool filter sand for large mid current living cichlids (like festae), and closely mimics the type substrate I saw in those rivers, and is heavy (dense) enough that (mostly)it doesn't get sucked up when siphoned. I find detritus sits on the top of the PFS, so the mulm is easily sucked up, without jamming the siphon tube deep into the substrate.
Here are some underwater pics from a river west of the Andes, and the Santa Marta mountains, similar to where you might find festae in its natural habitat.
These were the slower moving sections of the river I could get easily shots, there were also very rocky, faster flowing areas, where sand was replaced by mostly pebbles, where I couldn't get shots, although I believe slow to mid level flow, is where festae would inhabitfullsizeoutput_2af.jpeg .
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It's just preference really, I don't think the festae will care if you have sand or gravel. They can move both easily. Personally I find the gravel holds a ton of crap and after it's been in the tank for a while, no matter how long you vacuum it you get brown coming up. I usually do thin-ish layers of sand in my tanks and the detritus stays on top, then I just vac it off.
 
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I usually use a pool filter base (50lb) and a small percentage of aquarium gravel (20lb) and 2-3” river rock (10lb) and just mix it up. I use that for 48x18 footprint and dbl it for 72x18 or 24” footprints.
Looks natural IMO and provides them with a variety to sift through. I don’t loose too much vacuuming either.
 
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Pool filter sand for me. It's heavy and stays put for the most part.

Gravel builds up too much gunk that hurts water quality imo.
 
I use a thin layer of small smooth gravel with large cichlids. If the gravel is sparse, waste does not build up. I can see glass in many areas, which over time gets covered in algae, so the real key is keeping your gravel layer uber thin. Otherwise as others stated waste will build up over time and your gravel will become a nitrate factory.
 
I just got done removing all the old sand and putting in the new gravel. Its just a thin layer, barely enough to cover the entire bottom surface of the aquarium.

I will see how it holds up to a gravel vac next weekend. I don't think I will have any issues keeping it clean.
 
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