Substrait

[coalcut]

I have a new tank that was previously used as a saltwater tank that I will be using for freshwater. The tank still contains the sand substrait. Will I be able to use the sand for my freshwater setup or should I just dump it and get gravel or crushed coral? Also, is it a possible to go without substrait at all?

P.S. I have African Cichlids

Thanks

 

[shellieca]

I don't know if Cichlids need a substrate, someone more experienced with them will hopefully answer that. I do know some people do not use a substrate, my current QT tank doesn't have one, but it's only a temp home. I think it's personal preference. As for reusing the sand, I would think it has salt in it since it was in a SW tank & you'll want to get the salt out which may be more hassle than its worth. You'd have to probably boil it or at the very least use VERY hot water to rinse it extremely well. Although some of the salt would leech into the tank while you cycle it & if you go fish LESS cycle (recommended) then by the time you add fish it should be safe. Just my thinking, someone else may think different.

 

[Convict2161]

Man I'm sorry, I had about a whole page written out about substrate and such and the app crashed on my iPhone UGH!!

In short yes, use substrate. Gravel or sand. Most use sand as I do. They love it. They are known diggers and will enjoy burrowing and digging.

Be sure to put decor and rock work down first so when they dig you don't get a avalanche and hurt the fish and/or destroy your tank. You can place an egg crate to help distribute weight evenly.


http://m.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/s...eads%2d%5f%2dpla%2d%5f%2d202653781&ci_gpa=pla


What you use is pretty much up to you but it's there natural instinct to dig so give them a nice setup so they may have fun and in turn you can enjoy watching them.

Here's my 75 gallon mixed African tank I recently switched to black Tahitian moon sand.

 

[coalcut]

Sorry for the delay........internet service has been out.

Yeah I figured that I wouldn't be able to reuse the sand but I thought I'd ask just to make sure.

So gravel is OK? I've heard it's better to use sand or cruched coral (helps keep Ph high).

Thanks for the replies.

 

[Mrc8858]

You can re use the sand just leave it in a bucket of treated water with a pump and rinse the next day. You might be able to just rinse even but its always good to take extra precations. On top of that most lakes in the rift valley have measurable amounts of salt in them so cichlids could handle a small amount of salts leaching out

 

[Matt68005]

I know nothing about african chicliads, but i have seen beautiful tanks with them in it before, and i would reccomend sand or FINE grade gravel. Regular pea gravel is ok to use with hardy fish or with a UG filter, But you have to be very careful not to overfeed. But yeah, chiclids like to dig and mess stuff around, so plants are out of the question and small decorations will probably get buried.