African Chiclids

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Manafel

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Oct 10, 2011
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Tulsa, OK
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Kayla
Sand is the best substrate you can have, they love to dig around and move it to make the tank fit their specifications. plus I tried sand, I have yet to go back to gravel
 

fshfanatic

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Apr 7, 2006
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Arizona
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Mike
I like the Caribsea Eco Complete African Cichlid sand and there is another company that makes a sand specifically for africans. I cant remember the name
 

DrgRcr

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Dec 17, 2008
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# 20 Pool Filter Sand. Cheap($8-$10/50 lbs) and the most natural looking IMO. Some like play sand, but PFS is heavier and is not as prone to winding up in your filters.
 

oo7genie

Hello my fintime gal...
Nov 18, 2010
898
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Eugene, OR
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Rick
I like the Caribsea Eco Complete African Cichlid sand and there is another company that makes a sand specifically for africans. I cant remember the name
I have a few inches of play sand, capped with an inch of this Eco Complete African Cichlid sand in my 150g Malawi tank. It works out really well, but does slowly mix over time. I'm very careful with my water change siphoning, so in my tank it's really only mixed where the cichlids have dug under rocks or chose to make pits.

Sand is definitely the option preferred by African Cichlids, but there's many options as far as what kind of sand to get is concerned, and cichlids are cool with pretty much any of them. If price is a big factor, play sand is the most economical option. If price isn't a big deal, and you're looking for something that is supposed to help buffer the water and what not, then you'll be looking at sands by CaribSea, and other specialty sand manufacturers. If you're looking for sand that's nicer looking than play sand, but not as expensive as specialty sand, pool filter sand is a nice option. These are the 3 that are recommended most by far in every "what's the best/right sand" thread, but there's also a bunch of other options that would work just fine in an African Cichlid tank.

Tell us a bit more about your price range, what color sand you'd prefer, etc. and we can give you recommendations better tailored to your tank specifically, rather than just what we happen to prefer for our tanks.
 

Pittbull

ALL BOW DOWN TO THE FIN GODS
Apr 14, 2007
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Louisville Kentucky
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Mike
I agree with all of the above stated, if you have a large setup then you can mix the sands to off set the price a bit, try to stay away from play sand that stuff is really dirty and will require a lot of stirring it up in a bucket before you add it to your tank, Estes makes a good silicate sand and usually comes in different colors, pool filter sand is a little bit better and cleaner costs just a little more than play sand, if you are doing a medium sized tank go with the Caribsea sands they make a really nice sand..
 

oo7genie

Hello my fintime gal...
Nov 18, 2010
898
1
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Eugene, OR
Real Name
Rick
I've had my cichlids in both rocks and sand, and though they do dig in gravel, overall they do seem to prefer the sand, and are able to create much more intricate pit systems. Mine dug caves that ran between different pieces of decor, and used them as protective underground spawning/fry shelters.
 
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