Citypainter Posted January 17, 2004 Share Posted January 17, 2004 Hi there people. I have just moved and only have one tank to go. My 8ft tank. It was previously an American tank but I am thinking of changing the substrate to crushed marble or coral sand and setting up a Malawi tank. I want the tank for display only as It is too hard to catch any holding mothers in there once I set it up. Now heres the thing. I want fish on the surface and in the middle as well as on the bottom of the tank. I want lots of colour too. I was thinking of some Blue dolphins to start with so I will need some fish that are compatible with them. So all ideas are welcome. Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter_Gun_Riff Posted January 17, 2004 Share Posted January 17, 2004 coral sand for a tank that size will cost a mint by its self i say keep the americans Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anchar Posted January 17, 2004 Share Posted January 17, 2004 I agree that coral sand for that size tank will be expensive, so use white sand with coral sand/marble chips mixed in. Limestone rock features will help buff. If you like the blue dolphins, add F. rostratus because they are very compatible and have a nice colour contrast to the blue. merjo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OziOscar Posted January 17, 2004 Share Posted January 17, 2004 Out of curiosity - how many kg of coral sand would you likely need for an 8ft tank? Cheers - OziOscar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citypainter Posted January 18, 2004 Author Share Posted January 18, 2004 Hi thanks for your input. I guess about 40-60 kilos of coral sand. A friend offered me some "Bricklayers white sand" Is this stuff suitable? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benno Posted January 18, 2004 Share Posted January 18, 2004 River sand is the best substrate in my opinion its cheap clean and easier to maintain than gravel. Choice of fish im not sure on the possibilities are endless wirth a tank of that size. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OziOscar Posted January 18, 2004 Share Posted January 18, 2004 That's a lot!! Egad - at $80 for a 20 kg sack that's some investment... Maybe you could bulk it out with something else, like 'Cowra White' quartz pebbles (will need a lot of washing as they come complete with plenty of orangey Cowra mud ). I used a 5 kg bag of coral sand (the small stuff) for my most recent 3' setup, but added some Cowra to bulk it out. Is there an MSDS for the builders sand? If you can get some more info about what it is or at least who makes it then it's possible to try to work out if it's a goer. The only drawback I know of with sand is that you need to keep it to 1" deep only else you may run the risk of anaerobic pockets which produce some wild stench when they are disturbed during cleaning and also that fish poo shows up on it much worse than with gravels / rough surfaces. It can also be a filter killer, depending on the type you have and your livestock's desire to spit mouthfuls of sand into the intake for fun (observed a mate's O doing it ). Cheers - OziOscar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wazza Posted January 18, 2004 Share Posted January 18, 2004 Add a huge colony of Bristlenose and have a nice big factory going then once every couple of months put a DIY fish trap in it with algae wafers and zuccini and get alot of the babies out. Or you could put 4 or so Plecos or Gibbiceps. Just some suggestions. Oh and Peppermints if you could afford it. wazza Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trofius Posted January 18, 2004 Share Posted January 18, 2004 while yor lashing out on a flash substrate get heaps of funky rocks and about 40 tropheus!lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EcHo2134 Posted January 18, 2004 Share Posted January 18, 2004 i have 2 inches of coral sand in my 6x1.5x2, i would recommend against it because it is: a.) hard to clean b.) expensive c.) doesn't work too well with undergravel filters d.) get sucked up by my canister filter everytime the fish gets excited (30cm saratoga). e.) takes ages to clean (i mean ages, i had to rinse it through about 10 times b4 it stopped being cloudy). - Ernie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OziOscar Posted January 18, 2004 Share Posted January 18, 2004 Echo - you're a braver person than I using coral with a UGF... and at that thickness... Out of curiosity, why were you using a UGF with coral sand? Was this recently? When you say it is hard to clean, did you mean the initial wash-out before installation or do you mean in cleaning it during use (ie doing a gravel vac on it)? Cheers - OziOscar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gswalker Posted January 19, 2004 Share Posted January 19, 2004 Mate go for the earth eaters of centrals in an 8 foot u will have heaps of fun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citypainter Posted January 19, 2004 Author Share Posted January 19, 2004 Ok, I am not so sure which substrate to use until I choose exactly which fish to put in there. Coral sand is not an option because of the price. Same as Tropheous. My filtration that is already set up is 2 hang on filters which each turn the tank over at a rate of 1000lt's per hour. Or so the box says. The tank is running now but with no fish and no substrate. I am not going to run an undergravel. Like I said I want something colorful in the tank. I also want some surface swimmers. I don't really want plecos, they stay still for too long and I really want to see some movement. So yeah I guess a community tank of some kind is what I have in mind. I still think that I want Blue dolphins. What can I put in to share their water parameters that will live on the surface? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OziOscar Posted January 19, 2004 Share Posted January 19, 2004 What is the species name for Blue Dolphins? If I know that I think I could try to find some suggestions for you... Cheers - OziOscar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Downunder Posted January 19, 2004 Share Posted January 19, 2004 Hi, I just set up my 8ft'er 2 weeks ago. I bought some general handyman sand from Mitre 10 for about $5-$6 for 30kg. I only used 2 bags and found it was enough. A bit of cleaning was req'd, but it's worth it. In the past I used Aquasand, which looks nice but is fairly expensive(25kg for $20). I've got rocks in mine that go up to the top of the tank which seems to encourage the fish to swim up high also. I've stocked mine with Malawi's and silver sharks. The Peacocks give it a nice finishing look as a display tank also and swim at all levels. Good luck finding a fish that lives on the surface that doesn't end up being food for your Blue Dolphin's when they get bigger though . Just my 2 cents. Wayne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E4G13M4N Posted January 19, 2004 Share Posted January 19, 2004 If you want shell grit/crushed coral or cannunda shells for buffering go to your local fodder store Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citypainter Posted January 19, 2004 Author Share Posted January 19, 2004 The real name for Blue Dolphins is Cyrtocara moorii. I have decided on 6 of these and about 10 clown loaches. No other decisions are final yet. So I still need to work out what substrate to use. Also what other species to put in with the 2 that I have already chosen Does any know if Rasbora babora are still available in Australia. And if so where I can get them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OziOscar Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 Thanks for the real name... I knew them as 'Hump Heads' (name told to me years ago by a chum and also in some USA books). That sure is a lot of clown loach (total cm of fish) when they grow up! Thankfully they're so slow to grow. I guess sandy substrate would be the best. I checked on that 'builders sand' (it's pale stuff, almost white?) and it should be right for the job but it seems like its reasonably dirty (not so much muck and the like but extra fine, powdery particulate of the main material) so would need a good washout and all. Sounds like it will be a very lovely set up. Love to see some pics when you're all done. Cheers - OziOscar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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