So I plan on staining my stand and creating a canopy for my 55 gallon once it warms up so that means setting it up is right around the corner depending on weather. I have my stocklist all picked out for the most part, have a heater and picked out lights and a plan for rockwork I just can't decide on substrate.
I like Black Calvus and almost all the fish I want to house are darker. So I planned on black substrate but it's almost impossible to find. There is a local fish store selling 50lb bags of fine gravel for $10 each. It is like half the size of a pea, round and still gravel but a great size. It's a normal medium coloration. I would like to do this but wished I could do something darker but the only dark substrates I could find are like tahitian moon sand's which I am not spending over $100 for sand not to mention it says not to use with cichlids and fish that like to sift in the sand. I want to house Eretmodus Cyanostictus (goby) but I read they need sand to help them digest. Is this true and if so can I just get like 1 bag of sand to mix with the gravel. I am thinking the Goby can dig in the substrate and get the sand particles it needs and the dark sand will bring the overall color of the substrate down making the black calvus pop more.
So my 3 questions are:
1. Can you mix sand and gravel and will fish sift in it and pick out the sand particles it needs.
2. What choices do I have for dark sands.
3. Do I really need sand for the Erotmodus Cyanostictus?
I like Black Calvus and almost all the fish I want to house are darker. So I planned on black substrate but it's almost impossible to find. There is a local fish store selling 50lb bags of fine gravel for $10 each. It is like half the size of a pea, round and still gravel but a great size. It's a normal medium coloration. I would like to do this but wished I could do something darker but the only dark substrates I could find are like tahitian moon sand's which I am not spending over $100 for sand not to mention it says not to use with cichlids and fish that like to sift in the sand. I want to house Eretmodus Cyanostictus (goby) but I read they need sand to help them digest. Is this true and if so can I just get like 1 bag of sand to mix with the gravel. I am thinking the Goby can dig in the substrate and get the sand particles it needs and the dark sand will bring the overall color of the substrate down making the black calvus pop more.
So my 3 questions are:
1. Can you mix sand and gravel and will fish sift in it and pick out the sand particles it needs.
2. What choices do I have for dark sands.
3. Do I really need sand for the Erotmodus Cyanostictus?
