Bare bottom tank for Salvini ?

[Finster]

Hi. I have a pair of Salvini in a decorated tank. I think I screwed up by using sand that really sucks. It was great in my betta tanks but it sat outside over the winter before I added it to the salvini and angel tanks Now it is harboring some sort of algae or maybe even mold and besides that it's too fine. Aside from that I really don't care for the way the salvinis dig it out.. They have a kind of tunnel dug in the back of the tank and rarely come out. I've seen that most large Cichlids are bred in bare tanks with, maybe a potted plant and some flower pots but I've never seen any videos of salvinis being bred like that.Any reason why salvinis should be treated differently than the larger Cichlids?

Thanks!

 

[tanker]

LOL, you just provided what cichlids love. Sand to dig and hide. They maybe trying to breed, if not add some dither fishes.

 

[Finster]

Thanks. I know they love it! Thing is, I don't. I have some other tanks to worry about first so I'll probably leave them alone for a while but I was just wondering if they were any different than the big Cichlids that are often kept bare bottom.

Female is a little small yet but she is starting to color up a little. They might be looking to get amorous but I still might get the time to set them up the way I'd like if it's not something glaring about salvinis not being suitable.I just never see it online.

 

[Tifftastic]

Most people use bare bottom tanks when breeding cichlids because it is easier to maintain a bare bottom than one with gravel/sand.
Probably the main reason you don't see it very often with salvinis is that they only get about 6 inches, not that big compared to an Oscar or a Jag and therefor don't have the waste output of a larger cichlid.
If you don't want them digging up the sand, you could try a larger grain gravel that they can't move very easily and you can siphon still, but will give your tank a more natural look than a bare bottom tank.