Which is a better "look" for a cichlid aquarium?
- Thread starter sg1
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I did it!!!!!!!!! I made the switch to sand today!!! Hell of a job and the tank is still cloudy from years of gunk that came up with the gravel, but I can already tell it looks 1000% better!!!! Ill take pics if anyone is interested!
Well, the sand is in and the decore is back in place, just waiting for the cloudy water to clear up. Got it done with only 1 injury, hoping it isnt fatal. My leperinus freaked out when I started pulling everything out and ramed himself through a hole in a rock that was too small for him to fit. The jag took this oppertunity to bite his tail! Opertunistic little brat! Anyway he was jammed in there so good I couldnt push him out either way, Ive got these big dykes used for cutting thick pieces of copper wire, I was able to break/cut through the rock with them to free the fish, but he has lots of damage all around his gills where he wedged himself in
Other than that, went real smooth, and I THINK he is gonna make it.
Other than that, went real smooth, and I THINK he is gonna make it.sand stinks. i have a heavy black sand and my sa/ca cichlids wiggle around in it and its a filter killer. in fact my africans use to move it up in the water and my filters would pick it up. natural looking gravel all the way
i agree, i had sand in my 75 before switching to a 150 and it sucked, pain the the @$$ to clean, there would always be stuff out top of the sand. and my sand was white so it stood out so much.Bderick67;1481580; said:
thats what im doing, trying to found the smallest diameter gravel i can getBderick67;1482380; said:
Sand looks good and all but as stated several times above, it is a filter killer. It will destroy the impellers. Also all waste matter floats on top. and is terrible to look at, even when you gravel vacuum every week. I personally like gravel, especially the smaller silica gravel. (Black)
Depends what size sand you're using.
In a 2' or higher tank you shouldn't have any problems with sand getting into your intakes at all, even in an 18" high tank you should be able to shorten your intakes.
I know the play/sandpit style sand can be impeller killers, but you shouldn't have problems with pool filter sand or anything with a grain size that's similar, which is around the 1mm or so diameter mark.
Regarding waste sitting on the surface. With solid current in the tank you'll find that 90% of it collects in one spot or little area, so a quick vacuum and it's gone in 5 seconds, you can just do this into a bucket every few days if you don't do weekly or fortnightly water changes.
In a 2' or higher tank you shouldn't have any problems with sand getting into your intakes at all, even in an 18" high tank you should be able to shorten your intakes.
I know the play/sandpit style sand can be impeller killers, but you shouldn't have problems with pool filter sand or anything with a grain size that's similar, which is around the 1mm or so diameter mark.
Regarding waste sitting on the surface. With solid current in the tank you'll find that 90% of it collects in one spot or little area, so a quick vacuum and it's gone in 5 seconds, you can just do this into a bucket every few days if you don't do weekly or fortnightly water changes.
Ok what do you guys think, here's the new setup with sand, still a little cloudy but it looks so much better than with the gravel!!
