View Full Version : Sand with cons?
Anaxus
05-25-2003, 10:45 PM
Tommorrow I am going buy the substrate for my 29 gallon tank which will hold a pair of convicts. I have searched the message board and havn't found a deffinate answer on if I should use sand or a fine gravel. Will the cons dig alot and maby uncover some anaerobic layers, or will sand be fine??
optix
05-25-2003, 10:55 PM
Con's are diggers by nature, no matter if its fine gravel or sand they will dig. I have decent sized gravel in my con tank and my male moves them around with no problem in sand im sure they'll have a blast. Just make sure all plants are WELL rooted with a mix of gravel and sand.
Sum-X
05-25-2003, 10:59 PM
optix is right, most cichlids (with exception of dwarfs, etc.) are usually going to dig. what kind of filtration are you using? And what size sand are you planning on getting?
Anaxus
05-25-2003, 11:06 PM
I have a penquin 330 for filtration. I was going to get silica sand from lowes.
Go with gravel. The sand will get pulled into your filter and wear out the impeller. Otherwise, rig a prefilter on the intake of the Penguin.
Anaxus
05-26-2003, 4:18 PM
I decided to go with a base layer of gravel about 2inch and on top of that a 1inch mixture of sand and gravel. I think it will be a nice look.
I used fine southdown playsand in a con-tank with no problems , only plants were javamoss and javafern.
Any debris stays on top of the sand and is easily removed - I also used silica (Black Beauty 2-3mm - so a little coarser) in several tanks and that works great also.
In one of the bigger jag tanks I use 1"+ pebbles that the jags move anyway. Just to mention what others have also.