Sand substrate

[Poet8102]

Hey guys, this may be a stupid question, but how exactly does sand substrate work, ie. is it better than gravel and how exactly do you clean it, or do you. What kind of fish would it work for? Would it work for oscars, or do they dig too much? Please help me out? Sorry for any bother. 8)

[jnorris]

I have sand substrate in one tank and crushed coral in another. You can't use sand with an undergravel filter (I am guessing already know that).

Sand is nice to look at. I find it more revealing as far as what messes fish leave behind. This means you will have to siphon your tank once a week (which is recommended anyway). I actually think it promotes a cleaner tank because all of the waste stays at the top for the most part. THus you can get to it easily.

I use a siphon still and just get it close to the sand. All the waste matter comes up pretty easy. It is also pretty easy to replace the sand that gets lost during cleaning.

As far as digging goes, I have yet to find a Cichlid that doesn't dig some. Every once in a while you may have to move the sand back to where it was.

Between sand and crushed coral I like sand better. It took some getting used to.

[SGypsyMermaid]

hi poet--sand works especially well for tanganyikan cichlids, but is good for other lake cichlids also. i think that oscars are probably too messy--you would spend your life trying to clean the sand. some people siphon the sand into a bucket to clean it, others just skim the surface of the sand with a siphon to pick up the debris that collects on top. i just stir it, and populate it with malaysian livebearing snails which pick up stray bits of food and burrow through the substrate. what kind of fish do you keep?

[jnorris]

Dearest Gypsy,

Do these snails breed like mad? How big are they? I remeber a post about this however I can't find them.

I think this would be a great way for me to avoid cleaning the sand so much.

Plus if they die my shellies will have a new home. bonus

[finz]

I'd like to get some o' those too. Never heard of them but they sound like they're well worth keeping around.

[jnorris]

Let me know if you find any around. I haven't seen thesen around Denver. Gypsy, do you know of another another type of snail we could use. I want one that won't end up breeding like mice.

[SGypsyMermaid]

the malaysian live-bearing snails(trumpet snails)[Melanoides tuberculata ] do breed like mad. i've always kept them in my rift lake tanks because i can't vacuum the substrate...too many rocks. a lot of people don't like the look of them all over the glass after the lights have been off for a while, but as soon as the lights come back on they start dropping back to the bottom. they can also clog your filters. they are much too small for your shellies to live in, and they make nice occasional snacks for the cichlids which are skillful enough to winkle them from their shells! some folks hate them--but i like 'em.

http://www.malawicichlidhomepage.com/aquainfo/snails.html

[SGypsyMermaid]

read up on them, and if you decide that you want them, i can send you some.

[jnorris]

I know what you are talking about now. I had a friend who had lace rock (like me) and didn't even know he had them until he took his rocks out.

What about the larger snails?

[SGypsyMermaid]

the larger snails will just get killed and/or eaten right away.

http://www.cichlidforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=253&highlight=snails

[jnorris]

I actually talk to George Reclos via. email. Pretty small Cichlid world.

[jnorris]

I might give them a shot. This is a great article. You are such a walking fish encyclopidia! You should open a LFS. But then you would have to sell your fish.

Which reminds me of having to pry the Frontosa from the LFS owners hands, I actually thought she was going to cry when I walked out with her.

She actually called me today asking how she was doing. That is unheard of!

[SGypsyMermaid]

[quote:667e5d49ae]But then you would have to sell your fish. [/quote:667e5d49ae] not a chance!! :wink:

[quote:667e5d49ae]Which reminds me of having to pry the Frontosa from the LFS owners hands, I actually thought she was going to cry when I walked out with her.

She actually called me today asking how she was doing. That is unheard of![/quote:667e5d49ae] yup--that would be me...everybody would leave the store with tons of info, but no fish!!...mine...all mine. :twisted:

[jnorris]

Have you heard of a Blue Azure Frontosa? I can't find anything when I do a search. She told me she has tried numerous times to get these again and can't. I took the last one. I hav elooked at

I will have pictures posted by the weekend. Of the Comps, Aluonocara, and the Frontosa.

I guess we should get back to sand substrate. Sorry!

[SGypsyMermaid]

might be a blue [i:39c2bbb86d]zaire[/i:39c2bbb86d] frontosa.

[Poet8102]

Thanks Gypsie but I think that you have already answered my question. I have two 2" Oscars and two 2-3" pictus cats in a 29g( and yes I know I am going to need a bigger tank very soon, and I am getting one :wink: )
But thanks anyway for all of your help.