Question??? About substrate

[Asianlatinremix]

Is it bad to use sand in african cichlid tank???
If not , pro and cons???

[CichlidFan]

Re: Question??? About substrate

Not at all, in fact, it's probably the most popular substrate used in cichlid tanks.

Pro's ....well, it is helpful to raise and maintain PH levels, which are important in a cichlid tank.
           Alot of cichlid's have a natural tendency to move earth around, and sand allows them to do that easily.
           It is a very good looking substrate according to some or alot of hobbist.

Con's     It can be sucked up into filters and do serious damage to impellers'.
            It needs to be cleaned thoroughly, more so than gravel.


Overall, it is widely used and accepted by many cichlid tank owners, and there are literally dozens of types of sand to chose from.

Hope this helps some....

CF

[Fire_chair]

Re: Question??? About substrate

I have it in three tanks and love it.

[Asianlatinremix]

Re: Question??? About substrate

Great thanks guys ..
Does any one use the sand from petsmart . the colored ones ? Like black, blue ,and red .
thinking about buying 6 or 7 bags .

[CichlidFan]

Re: Question??? About substrate

As is with just about everything in life, it's a matter of personal choice.

Dyes are used to color sand in most cases I would assume, and I don't think it's harmful at all, but I like to try it keep it as natural as possible.

Regular play sand or paver sand from Home Depot or any hardware store is probably the best economical way to go, but it's up to you.... :)

NOTE: be sure to rinse any sand you get throughly before adding to the tank.

CF

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Question??? About substrate

Biggest con of sand.....it compacts which will build anerobic gas pockets...when released it kills fish. Gotta keep them from building.

[Tiapan]

Re: Question??? About substrate

i have used sand for a while now and love it. i have used play sand, pool filter sand, and some of the white moon sand sold a petsmart. i love the white of the moon sand but i think pool filter sand it the best look for the price, around 10 bucks for a 50 pound bag. really fine gravel works well for cichlids too that really like to move stuff about. the only thing i would say about the dyed sand is check to make sure its for fish tanks. i know that there are lots of colored sands for reptiles but those would not be sutable for a tank because those are calcisand products and will disolve in water and release their dyes (forgive any misstypes). so those would not be ideal for a fish tank :wink:

[imagirlgeek]

Re: Question??? About substrate

We use masonry sand in 7 of our tanks, and sand-blasting sand in 1.  I think the only difference in the masonry sand and pool sand is that it's a bit cheaper ($7 for 75 lbs) and A LOT dirtier.  We bought a small bag of white sand at a LFS once to supplement one of the tanks that needed just a little more sand, and it was very very fine.  It seemed to take a lot longer for it to settle and not cloud the water.  

We prefer the masonry or sand-blasting sand because it's a heavy enough sand to settle fairly quickly.  Like CF said, color is just going to come down to personal choice.  All of our tanks house cichlids, so we just have to make sure that our base rocks are very very secure, so when they do start digging, nothing collapses.  

Also, like EK said, sand will compact and trap waste and toxic gas.  You'll need to churn it every few weeks (depending on your fish load).  I either run my fingers through it or use an old tube from a UGF to stir it up and release the gas.  You'll see all the bubbles come out of it when you do this.  

As for tearing up the impellers, we used to have this problem quite often.  But as I'm typing this, I realized that we haven't lost an impeller since we added powerheads with 2 sponges on each of the tanks.  Hmmmm....wondering if this is acting as a pre-filter keeping the sand out of the canisters and HOB's.  I know that when cleaning those sponges, quite a bit of sand comes out.

[Asianlatinremix]

Re: Question??? About substrate

i have used sand for a while now and love it. i have used play sand, pool filter sand, and some of the white moon sand sold a petsmart. i love the white of the moon sand but i think pool filter sand it the best look for the price, around 10 bucks for a 50 pound bag. really fine gravel works well for cichlids too that really like to move stuff about. the only thing i would say about the dyed sand is check to make sure its for fish tanks. i know that there are lots of colored sands for reptiles but those would not be sutable for a tank because those are calcisand products and will disolve in water and release their dyes (forgive any misstypes). so those would not be ideal for a fish tank :wink:

it for fish . it next to fish graval

[Asianlatinremix]

Re: Question??? About substrate

We use masonry sand in 7 of our tanks, and sand-blasting sand in 1.  I think the only difference in the masonry sand and pool sand is that it's a bit cheaper ($7 for 75 lbs) and A LOT dirtier.  We bought a small bag of white sand at a LFS once to supplement one of the tanks that needed just a little more sand, and it was very very fine.  It seemed to take a lot longer for it to settle and not cloud the water.  

We prefer the masonry or sand-blasting sand because it's a heavy enough sand to settle fairly quickly.  Like CF said, color is just going to come down to personal choice.  All of our tanks house cichlids, so we just have to make sure that our base rocks are very very secure, so when they do start digging, nothing collapses.  

Also, like EK said, sand will compact and trap waste and toxic gas.  You'll need to churn it every few weeks (depending on your fish load).  I either run my fingers through it or use an old tube from a UGF to stir it up and release the gas.  You'll see all the bubbles come out of it when you do this.  

As for tearing up the impellers, we used to have this problem quite often.  But as I'm typing this, I realized that we haven't lost an impeller since we added powerheads with 2 sponges on each of the tanks.  Hmmmm....wondering if this is acting as a pre-filter keeping the sand out of the canisters and HOB's.  I know that when cleaning those sponges, quite a bit of sand comes out.

i'll check that out.. but i wonder if my canister will suck up that sand real easy . i have that eheim 2260 ?

[imagirlgeek]

Re: Question??? About substrate

I've been told that Eheims are the best for tanks with sand substrate.  The explanation was that the water enters through the bottom and exits the top so any sand sucked in is stopped before it reaches the impeller.  

But that's just what I heard.   :)

[Asianlatinremix]

Re: Question??? About substrate

well i got the sand yesterday. and i was pulling all my driftwood out and guess what i found? baby demasoni , and some hybrid, and i saw tiny baby in my frontosa mouth . I  was like holy crap. i never even notice they had babys . so i put everything back for the baby to hide . when i get a chance i'm going to pull all the frys out. it just so had to catch .

So  excited !!!!!!!!!

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Question??? About substrate

Cool find!


With the canisters as long as the motor is up top then it would work in most cases. Eheim has the intake through the bottom or is routed to the bottom and filters upwards so the sand settles at the bottom of the canister.