substrate for rift lake cichlid tanks

[tetrin]

do the special substrates do any good other than just buffer the water? do cichlids attain better coloration and spawns with these? or is it just another ploy to extract more money?

i can't find a sand locally that is coarse enough. all of them are extremely fine. so, even if i can prevent it going into the impeller, i am worried about gill-irritation from lighter particles.
so i was thinking of ordering black moon sand from bigals. then this cichlid mix caught my eye. and hence, the question.

TIA

 

[greenmaji]

Are you able to find sand blasting sand/grit or pool filter sand?

 

[tetrin]

none.
well, i didn't look much except at lowe's. couldn't find a home depot anywhere. also, i really hate to wash the sand too much, and still find it clouding the water (don't have a diatomic filter or access to one).

 

[Menagerie]

I use small gravel in the 80 gallon and sand in two other tanks. Just use something small enough so the cichlids can move it around.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Menagerie- Love the new Avator

Back to the thread: I use pool filter sand. Try a pool supply store. I tried Lowes and Home Depot also for the pool filter sand but they don't carry it. Grab a phone book and see if you can find a supply store in your area. Chances are you can. Or do what I did, I called Information and they gave me a whole list of them within a 60 mile radius. A little expensive, but I didn't have a phone book yet.

 

[mentallylost]

I use both Aragamax Grand Bahama Sand in my 80 gallon and Carib Sea African Cichlid Mix in my 125 gallon tank. The sand was much more difficult to clean originally, but I think that it was worth it. It looks much more natural, and my fish seem to enjoy playing in it more. The sand is real fine, but if you keep the filter intakes above the substrate by a couple of inches then the risk of the filters sucking it up is minimal. The Carib Sea African Cichlid Mix is much more coarse and not as pleasing to look at. A couple of my species will move the gravel around a bit, but not as much as the sand. I wish that I would have used the sand in both of my tanks.

 

[greenmaji]

Equipment rental places would have sandblasting sand/grit.. where you would rent a sandblaster if you needed one.. again the phone book is you freind.. I call lowes before I go if I have any doubt about weather or not they will have something.. they will go check..

 

[tetrin]

i just couldn't put my finger on what was different about her...so that's it ...(jk)

i have kind of fallen for the black sand ...already have a background where the bottom is very shaded, and i don't want to brighten the area.
and that's the reason i was pretty happy when i didn't find pool sand at lowe's (sorry for the deception)...
i was just wondering if there are any long term benefits of using one of these special mixes with the sand.

BTW fishy, your tank looks gorgeous with sand.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Thanks Tetrin. I used a mixture of black Este's sand and pool filter sand. For the 55 gal I'm planning on mixing pool filter sand, black sand, and a dark green Este's sand. That's if the lfs can get it in for me. I think it will give it a different look and will help blend my plants and decor better. I'm going for the natural look. I really need to upload some new pics since we moved. We've changed around all the tanks. With this new tank I am being selective on what I want in it. So it's going to take me quite a while before it gets completed. Tomorrow I am on the hunt for the sand. In the meantime, my filter is becoming VERY seeded on the 150 gal.

 

[tetrin]

thanks for the input mentallylost.
is the substrate in the last three pictures in your gallery the cichlid mix? boy, that sure looks coarse...more like gravel. but the photo on bigalsonline shows a finer substrate!!
http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=20541&category_id=1675&pcid1=1695

 

[tetrin]

wow, thats some sandorama fishy...
good luck on the sand-hunting .

 

[mentallylost]

Yes, that is the Carib Sea African Cichlid Mix. If you visit
http://photobucket.com/albums/y195/mentallylost/
you will be able to see pics of both substrates up close. Just flip through the pics.

 

[greenmaji]

They make black sand blasting sand/grit..

 

[krap101]

well, i bought some aragnite from home depot for my brichardi. i also bought some silica sand from menards for my normal fish. i tried washing the silica once and nothing came out, so i havent washed anything i put in recently. its called "handy sand"

 

[Zagz]

With pool sand do you still have to worry about air pockets? Or is it gas pockets? I can't remember but I know I've read about it here.

 

[greenmaji]

With pool sand do you still have to worry about air pockets? Or is it gas pockets? I can't remember but I know I've read about it here.

Thats what snails are foooorrrrrr.... LOL! Or spinny eels!

 

[krap101]

well.. if its rounded enough i think air can get through, because the silica i have, i almost never have pockets

 

[greenmaji]

I would be conserned with anirobic pockets, nitrogen and or sulfer gass ack!, but thats what snails are for!! LOL..

 

[tetrin]

greenmagi, i think snails might not work in a cichlid environ, specially a malawi one (the one i'm trying to keep). although MTS might hide in the sand, they are endangered by the fact that cichlids are diggers.
anyway, i'm not looking for a DSB, just a thin layer of sand.

the black sand blasting sand is made from slag (black beauty). it contains FeO, and does raise iron content in the water. also, too sharp for sand-sifting varieties.

krap101, thanks for the tip.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

MTS are probably not a good idea because the Cichlids will eat them. All you have to do is run your fingers through the sand, it does the same thing. I have eels that are turning my sand over in the 29, but in the 10 and 150 gal, I just run my fingers through the sand. You still have to do it with pool filter sand.