psoul Posted April 3, 2004 Share Posted April 3, 2004 Hello people, How are we all? Anyway, I am new to African Cichlids and I want to set up my 3 foot with Africans, preferrably Lake Malawi Cichlids. Anyway, what would be the best substrate to use? Is crushed coral good or just standard gravel.. I was thinking of having crushed corel or shells(which ever it is) with white rock and a black background. Some advise would be nice.. Thanks in Advance Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benno Posted April 3, 2004 Share Posted April 3, 2004 I use river sand mixed with shell grit that you buy from the fodder store i rekon it looks awesome. Benno Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John McCormick Posted April 3, 2004 Share Posted April 3, 2004 Hi Pete, What you suggest sounds good. Some things to think about are type of Malawian you will be keeping and whether they like digging and or sifting through the sand/gravel/coral? Will you be using undergravel filtration? This will govern to a large extent how fine the substrate can be as fine sand will go right through the undergravel plates rendering it useless. Plenty of hidey holes for Mbuna is always a good idea. Make sure your rocks sit on the glass and put the substrate that you finally choose around the rocks as this will lessen the chances of the fish undermining the rocks, causing it all to come crashing down on top of them. This happened to me in my early days of fish keeping and caused a few deaths by the rocks burying the fish. Good luck with the set-up. Let us know how it ends up. John. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psoul Posted April 3, 2004 Author Share Posted April 3, 2004 Hi Benno, Sorry but whats a fodder store? Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psoul Posted April 3, 2004 Author Share Posted April 3, 2004 Thanks for that reply john, I want smallish malawis, like electric yellows, mbuna. Its only a 3 footer so I guess I am limited to what I can keep and what I cant. I do have an undergravel filter and also a canister filter. I wasnt going to use the UG filter just the canister. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benno Posted April 3, 2004 Share Posted April 3, 2004 A fodder store is an animal feed shop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psoul Posted April 3, 2004 Author Share Posted April 3, 2004 ahh ok. thanks for that.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Posted April 3, 2004 Share Posted April 3, 2004 Hi Pete if you try Rayonne at Preston or some of the other bigger lfs you will find a variety of gravel available that buffers your water and if you go for the 2mm variety they will be able to sift through it and its not so fine that i can get sucked up into your filtration .Some where on here i gave a list of stores to someone who was looking for gravel. cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psoul Posted April 3, 2004 Author Share Posted April 3, 2004 Thank you very much Sarah, I will try and find that post to read it. Cheers Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bungholio Posted April 3, 2004 Share Posted April 3, 2004 You could use midnight black gravel, keeps my pH at 8.2, and is $1 a kilo adam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Posted April 3, 2004 Share Posted April 3, 2004 Hi Adam where do you get it for a $1 a kg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDHOGG Posted April 4, 2004 Share Posted April 4, 2004 About a month ago I changed my substrate from normal lfs gravel to beach sand. I washed it a few times to get rid of the fine stuff and it still took 1/2 a day to settle but it has made a big difference to my fish. The really seem to love it. I have 6 frontosas with a few other Tanganyikans and they all sift through it and move it all over the tank. It settles quickly when stirred up and all the pooh stays on top so it is easy to clean. I founf the gravel tends to trap the pooh. I expect sand is not good for the filter if any gets sucked up, but so far so good. Check out this internet site for an artical on using sand instead of gravel. regards, Jdhogg. http://www.hagblomfoto.com/article_sand.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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