cichlid substrate

9 posts

Discuss all topics related to freshwater and planted tanks.


dane918
 
Posts: 32
Joined: Sat Sep 20, 2008 12:16 pm

cichlid substrate

by dane918

What would be the most appropriate sbustrate or gravel for cichlids...?


Sticks
 
Posts: 11
Joined: Wed Nov 04, 2009 4:46 am

by Sticks

I had gravel but some one showed me tha diffrence between sand and gravel. Gravel is not as clean as sand. With gravel all tha poop and uneaten food goes between tha rocks but with sand everything tends to sit on tha top. Plus sand is more natural for cichlids. once i changed my cichlids seem to b more happy


deanmachine
 
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Nov 27, 2009 4:48 pm

by deanmachine

How do you vacuum a tank with sand substrate? Won't it vacuum up and need to be replaced? In which case, gravel seems by far more practical.


gumbii
 
Posts: 1695
Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2007 3:31 am

by gumbii

sand ftw...

i had a great undergravel jets system going on to keep the sand super clean... just stir it up every couple of months...


bennyphan
 
Posts: 75
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 2:38 am

by bennyphan

I like sand. I had a Electic Yellow Cichlid die because it choked on a gravel.


r0addawg
 
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Dec 06, 2008 8:30 am

by r0addawg

from what ive researched to answer your question about vacuuming the sand. stick your arm in the tank and swirl the top layer of the sand, to let your filter do most of the work(best of to clean your filter before and after) then use a vacuum about an inch or 2 away from the top of the sand to get the big clumpy stuff.
if anyone knows a better way, please explain because i wanna do sand too.


esparzar1
 
Posts: 164
Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2009 5:31 pm

by esparzar1

I like sand as well. Pool filter sand works great and it's cheap!


bennyphan
 
Posts: 75
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 2:38 am

by bennyphan

Yeah I do what r0addawg just wrote. However, I don't have fine fine sand like what you would probably see in a saltwater fish tank, I have crushed deal coral sand. So its heavier.


stormer0719
 
Posts: 35
Joined: Tue Oct 20, 2009 8:05 am

by stormer0719

just swapped out gravel for sand in my african cichlid tank......I got that sand thats like 35 bucks a bag (2 bags of it) its precycled and straight from the carribean or some crap....the black sand ones :) My fish seem to like it except i stressed out the oldest female and killed it.....malawii bloat or what ever someone was kind enough to inform me........

Anyways the sand is great, my other fish are all healthy and loving it. its argonite sand or how ever that is spelled. It helps keep the PH higher while introducing a list of stuff thats found in saltwater as it is a marine substrate. This is how i have achieved my brackish water for them instead of useing the crushed coral as someone mentioned they are useing

As far as most approprete substrate for cichlids....I believe africans are supposed to have the argonite in their substrate. Which is why people i know use the crushed coral. I just thought i would be different and see how it works out. ....... looks great :)

cichlid substrate

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