What kind of rocks should I get for my African Cichlid Fish

[fishmanbrady]

Its a 55 gallon. I already have blue gravel, should I add on Crushed Coral on top? Or will I have to remove the Gravel, I plan on getting the fish on this upcoming Friday. The tank is almost done cycling, so would it ruin the cycle if I changed the gravel to crushed coral? What should I do? Thanks!

 

[Crawdaddy]

I don't believe it should hurt your cycle to change it now. It would be easier to change it now. Most of our BB is in your filter. There is a minimal amount in he gravel, plus in my experience, gavel is a nitrate factory. I could never get it completely clean. When I changed mine out, I vacuumed it for ever, and the water after I scooped out the gravel, the water looked like sewage. So if you want to do the change, do it before you stock it.

 

[Cichlid-dude]

I would go with sand instead of crushed coral. You can put a media bad of cc in your filter if you want to buffer the ph. It is totally up to you though, if you want cc as a substrate go for it. It will hold a lot of food and poop in it though.