cichlids tank gravel

[lilkey625]

http/www.petsmart.com/global/product_det...D=1120140685039

i dont know if that link will work but its Seachem Flourite Plant Substrate from pets mart and i was wondering it this would be good for my cichlids

 

[keane]

Hi,

That stuff is for planted tanks.

I'm not sure what cichlids you are referring to but if they are Malawi cichlids then your tank shouldn't have any plants in it.

Malawi's natural habitat is an abundance of rocks and caves, with no greenage at all (except for algae).

Personally (as I have done) I would go for good old playsand as your substrate. Again it reflects the natural habitat and will save you £££'s/$$$'s compared to your fancy substrates.

hope this helps.

 

[lilkey625]

where would i find play sand, at a hard ware store. and do i have to treat it or clean it some way.. i was really wanting some thing dark or black. i know i have one mbuna but i dont know what the other two are. i will have to take a picture of them later. are the plants bad for them?

 

[freddyk]

Nope, plants are fine for them, and sometimes you can get away with tough plants like Anubias and Java Fern, but they do tend to eat them and dig them up, which is why they're usually avoided.

Hardware stores like Home Depot well play sand. Look for silica or beach sand (bagged), they tend to be less dusty. You can also use pool filter sand - it has larger grains and isn't dusty at all.

 

[lilkey625]

do i have to treat or clean the sand before putting it into my tank, and it so how. right now i have rocks in the tank, then i read the mbuna aquarium pinned post and saw that they like to dig. should i just put the sand in with the rock and then slowy over time take out all of the rocks... i just went thought the whole moving the tank thing and had bad advice from the LFS and all my fish pasted. i dont want to kill any more. i did the bio spira on tues and got one fish.. then yesterday when i went to go get food for the fish and fell in love with 2 more so i have 3 cichlid in what i think is a 40 gal tank.