Substrate

[kpatrick007]

What do you guys to put as substrate in a 75 gallon African cichlid tank? and if sand what do I do to take care of the sand?

 

[FishBoy185]

Definitely sand! Its really cool looking and cichlids love it! All you do to take care of it is use a siphon and just siphon the top of the sand and the waste gets sucked up. Its really easy but takes a bit of practice. I'd also reccomend pool filter sand. Its not that dirty unlike play sand.

 

[kpatrick007]

After you siphon out the top sand and put the sand in or get new sand?

 

[Brandon D.]

Play sand is a pain to clean!! I bought a base layer sand at lowes thts a bit thicker in size and it's about like cleaning gravel but the fish can still easily dig

 

[SonicsDC25]

My vote is for pool filter sand, they're not as fine as play sand and you won't have to worry about it getting sucked up your filter. When it comes to cleaning, just siphon the PFS and the waste should go up and also moves the sand around to remove any gas built up underneath.

 

[ivan2020]

My vote is for pool filter sand, they're not as fine as play sand and you won't have to worry about it getting sucked up your filter. When it comes to cleaning, just siphon the PFS and the waste should go up and also moves the sand around to remove any gas built up underneath.

I agree

 

[Wy Renegade]

Really at the end of the day, it is a matter of what you the fish keeper prefer. African cichlids in the wild thrive in lakes and rivers that have mud, sand, gravel, cobbles, and boulders on the bottoms and they have absolutely no preference. They will play and dig in gravel just like they will sand. Mbuna will actually pick up gravel pieces and eat the algae off of them, which is what their teeth are designed to do. So sand or gravel, it is really a matter of your choice. Either way the substrate needs to be siphoned in order to clean it regularly.