All sand substrate?

[PUDincONE]

I am beggining an African cichlid set-up in my spare 55 gallon tank. I have read up alot on the topic and I was wondering if it was ok to use just sand as a substrate. The tank will most likely be housing Tanganyikan Cichlids. Also I was wodnering how you woudl clean it considering it is sand and woudl be impossible to syphon out the waste from it without takin the sand out...corresct me if im wrong and your insight is appreciated.

PUD-

 

[Ferris]

All sand as a substrate is fine and indeed very common for African Cichlid tanks.

This link will give you some tips as someone asked exactly the same question:

Link

Also heres another link with a bit more info:

Link 2

Hope this helps!

 

[bodasafa]

most cichlids will dig in sand and make nest for breeding and just home for them they will take mouth fulls of sand and spit it out and make what looks like holes under rocks and stuff like that there is a sand sustrate just for cichlids no riseing needed becouse the water it is packed in is benefical in starting a new tank

 

[PUDincONE]

ok thanks for such quick replies. I have read to use eggcrate underneth for the rock work, i was wondering if you had any experince with that. thanks again

PUD-

 

[Ferris]

I didn't use it but i've heard it works well. It will spread the weight of the rock around the tank, which is a good idea.

 

[freddyk]

Egg crate is a nice tool for the paranoid, but it's not necessary - laying the rocks on the bottom of the tank works just as well. Just don't lay the rocks on top of the sand or the cichlids will undermine them and cause a collapse.

 

[PUDincONE]

thanks for all the replies i was wondering if it is at all possible to use crucshed coral even though they say to use sand. I was just wonderign if this would be a problem.

 

[Ferris]

Crushed coral is good and helps the tank ph but does have sharp pieces so many people have a layer of crushed coral covered with a fairly deep layer of sand to protect the fish. Just a thought!

 

[vantgE]

I use Eggcrate in my tank and like the results though as said before it is generally jsut a precaution but it makes me feel much more confident when placeing rocks and isn't an expensive Item to add to teh tank. The fish will dig it up in alot of parts but it isn't really a a problem,

Usually it is not necesary to use buffer gravel in your tank. I bought some african cichlid gravel mostly for the novelty of it and it is in my tank and filter. However mixing it with sand make it hard to siphon crap of the sand, and if it was put in a filter it would be more effective on your tank chemistry