sand VS gravel

somerton16 · 07-07-2008, 11:09 PM

i was wondering what would be better for an african chiclid set up. i have been doing some research and hit a brick wall as far as substrate. i have read both good and bad as far as useing sand. if i used sand with eggcrates how would i go about stirring up the sand to avoid the toxic gases from building up?

orb4me · 07-08-2008, 04:39 PM

Isnt a 10 gal tank way to small for chiclids? Why are you going to use an egg crate? I cant answer you question, but I had a couple of my own

somerton16 · 07-08-2008, 07:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by orb4me

Isnt a 10 gal tank way to small for chiclids? Why are you going to use an egg crate? I cant answer you question, but I had a couple of my own

hey ORB sorry i wasnt clear in my post. the setup is going to be a 125 gallon african chichlid setup. and i'm thinking of useing eggcrates for my rock formations incase of an avalanche it will help absorb the shock and not crack the glass. incase you arent sure what and eggcrate is its just a plastic grid kind of like a bunch of Pound signs all put together. thats a pretty bad diagram though you get the idea #### ####
i am also thinking about adding udergravel jets to keep the substrate cleaner. anyone know anything about them? are they worht it or a bust?

Tommy Gun · 07-09-2008, 10:41 PM

Hey Somerton16,

I am pretty sure most people would agree with me when I say that there will always be pros and cons to everything, including the sand versus gravel debate you seem to be faced with right now. For example, while sand may require a bit more initial effort on your part, gravel can pose a problem as it is more likely detritus can/will become trapped (a problem amplified when keeping "messy" cichlids/fish) and hence, may require a bit more attention during water changes. Additionally, I have found that sand is somewhat more manageable in my case because the cichlids I have kept and have now seem more likely to dig/move large amounts of gravel where as they don't seem to dig much if at all in my sand. Of course, that is just my own experience and may differ from what others have noticed and is also going to depend on the exact species that are being kept. Additionally, if you are going to use under gravel jets, then sand might prove to be too light. Unfortunately I have no experience with these jets so I don't have an opinion on them either way.

Regarding your rock work, as someone who has stacked rock in all of my tanks right now, I definitely think it is better to be safe than sorry...but IMO not only does that begin with selecting rocks which "lock" or otherwise support each other but also to s ensure that the bottom most rocks are laying directly on the glass, or egg crate that is resting on the glass, because any substrate has the potential to shift or settle with little to no warning. Again, it would depend on the exact type of cichlids you want to keep but keep in mind that many cichlids are notoriously aggressive and so there is an increased risk of a chasing/fleeing fish to inadvertently bump a rock or two...but I suppose that could be applied to any fish if using the 'better to be safe than sorry' ideology.

somerton16 · 07-09-2008, 11:44 PM

of course everything has pros/cons i'm just trying to get everyones opinion to see what out weighs what. as far as the fish i'm going to keep i'm thinking about mbunas i have a couple picked out so far 1. Labeotropheus fuelleborni (Hora Mhango) 2.Cynotilapia afra (Nkhata Bay) 3.Labidochromis caeruleus (Lion's Cove I) i still have to do a little reasearch on them to see if thet would be compatable with each other but thats what i have pick so far. if anyone has/had any experience with them let me know. as far as the rock work goes of course its always better to be safe than sorry. i didnt know they had rocks that locked together i'll have to look into them. i was just going to use somthing like lava rock or some base rock. TG am i understanding you correctly when you say to put the rocks directly on the bottom glass then put the substrate around the rocks???

orb4me · 07-11-2008, 02:53 PM

cichlidgirl knows alot of these fish and has very nice tanks, you also might want to jump into some of her topics.

I put sort of a heavy articial cave like thing in my tank for my 2 parrot fish, and after a few weeks decided to stand it up right the way it was suppose to be. i left the house for a few hours and when I came back the cave thingy was back where it was and one of the parrots was getting gravel in his mouth and spitting it out of one of the holes. Sorta funny, I think he was mad.

Securing rocks must be a good idea lol

LiVe4fIsH · 08-01-2008, 02:09 AM

just wanted to add that sand, if it is like a river sand, than it is not the way to go with a cichlid tank. it will cause the pH to drop down to 7.5 to 7.3 which is way to low for cichlids to survive in. But, what I am in the process of is, which is turning out quite nice, since river sand is great for keeping everything (algae, left over food, etc) on top and not getting trapped in the sand, keep that, but mix in cichlid gravel, its gravel they sell just for cichlids to keep the pH up and works great with a buffer. also, it looks real good.

Judge · 08-10-2008, 03:56 PM

I am thinking of having a mix of fluorite on the bottom and 80 % sand with a small amount of darker gravel more for looks than anything else. I don't think I want all gravel because of difficulty in getting rid of waste and I am not planning on using an underground filter so sand won't be a problem. Keep in mind this is to be a planted 75 g. tank with Discus..maybe an angel or two. Will this work? Potential headaches?

mikeyb · 08-10-2008, 04:06 PM

just a helpful idea, cichlide tanks usually work best with a buffering substrate, my fathers 60 gallon cichlade tank consisted of an argonite ph buffer, large rocks, and a varying sized gravel from sand to small pebbles. the buffer is usually very small, so in the end you get a combo of small sized substrate to pebbles. so you'd be getting a bit of both worlds IMO =]

Judge · 08-10-2008, 04:11 PM

thanks mikeyb, I'll check in to that. What kind of rocks did he use?