whats your preferred substrate

[cichlid67]

hi all, im in the process of planning a new tank and would like opinions on which substrates are best for an african cichlid setup. i am leaning towards sand so which type is best. also what is the best way to buffer the ph if plain sand is used. does anyone use crushed coral in their cannister filter, if so how. thanks

[BlakeyBoyR]

I use pool filter sand in my tank, it is cheap and fine enough for the cichlids to move around easily. However it does not look as good as coral sand.

Coral sand is expensive but also has the ability to buffer the water nicely.

If you do decide to use normal sand, like I did, you're going to have to either use a chemical buffer, or place shell-grit or crushed coral in your filter. If you do this, just place it in a fine mesh bag and let the water flow through it.

[canerod]

Hi

I use river sand sold at the local garden ctr for $4.00 for about 25kg and i put shell grit in my filters, that gives me a ph of about 8.

Bob

[coryadorer]

i use coral sand (well its called coral sand but ima bit suspicious) and it works great,the only thing i dont like about sand is that all the turds and stuff rise to the top of it.

i would go with small gravel if i was you,like rEALLY small gravel.

im sure dark 'black' gravel would look cool.

i also have tonnes of sea shells and stuff that the neo brichardi breed in that help the ph.

[Chafule]

what u mean by turds?

crap in the sand or leftover food? o.O

[coryadorer]

turds..were as in my other tank all the "rubbish" becomes dirt under the gravel.

believe me theres NO left over food

[cavbenni]

I am using silica sand in my african tanks aand use shell grit as my buffer, no problems to date, in fact the fish enjoy sifting it

[tfoster]

Just a question with filter buffering. Do you put your shell grit/coral on the top level of your filter, or do you have a layer above it.

I ask as I'm not sure how the breakdown of the coral/shell will affect the filter impeller etc.

Cheers

Tim

[Sarah]

i use marble sand in my 6ft its white not the off white that is around my rostratus luv sifting it, midnight black gravel 3mm size in my 4ft i really prefer that over a finer substrate at least i know its not going to end up in my filter and it shows most of the mbunas colours heaps better then the marble sand, my other tanks im less fussed .

[parrdog]

I use Limesand. I got it from Xtreme Aquariums. It looks great and has good buffering capabilities. I still use Seachem buffers but I'm fussy about kH. Sand is easy to maintain since all the crap just sits on top. All you do is run your siphon hose over the top and it's done. The current in my tank means all the rubbish collects in one corner, it's dead easy. The only downside to sand is that when the fish stir it up it can get into your filters. Sorry if I have repeated what others have said already.

[Chafule]

is there a dark sand available?

[AdamR]

Theres a really nice bright white river sand at Lams Aquariums. 20kg for $40. Which seemed reasonable until i read Canerods post. I love the sand, the fish love but my filter didnt. When i stirred it up some got in the impeller and jammed it. (so i replaced it with a foam filter). I know peopel who've never had a problem. I keep little cichlids, they are happy to move around small gravel, just not as much as sand.

So if you want sand, think about how your set up and what the chances are the dust will get sucked into the filter. Other wise its awesome