Carib Sea African Cichlid Mix (Sahara Sand)

[TabisFish]

That's what I did too Seemed to work very well.

 

[Hysteria]

I have the Carib Sea African Cichlid Mix (Ivory Coast Sand) in my 55gal mbuna tank for almost 3 years now. It is not cheap, but it's a great substrate to buffer the high pH and hardness needed by these fishes. Yeah, there are other cheaper ways to provide these conditions, but I love that sand texture and color.

I could not agree more. The color and size of the Ivory Coast Sand is PERFECT. We just set up a 45 gallon cube with it, containing Paracyprichromis nigripinnis and various plecos. We'll also be using it in our 300 gallon Deep Dimension tank soon.

 

[Hysteria]

Here's a couple of pics of our Ivory Coast sand in bags.

 

[SickBum]

People obsess over ph too much. Are your fish and plants alive? If so ph is probably ok, it's mostly a yes or no question. Some areas have water or dirt with very low or very high and some species require very low or very high but you'll know if that's the case. For substrate in african cichlid tank shells are the best by far. If you're still worried about ph they are virtually pure calcium carbonate, crush a couple and that's as hard as it gets. Aside from that they leave lots of space for the inevitable fry to hide in and are easy to clean. Also lightweight and cheap (or free) to aquire.

 

[Mr.55]

This is the 55 setup with the sand.........when I first added sand and water it was still really cloudy.

 

[Pittbull]

Cool deal looks like you are on your way to an awesome tank, i use the PFS as well just give a week and all should be good..

 

[Mr.55]

I have added my fish back and all should be good right......I used 30 gallons of the water that I had when the tank was set up before to try to keep the bacteria and all the filter media in my Fluval 305 should have tons of bacteria right. I did let it cycle for about 3-4 days though before I added my fish.

 

[Mr.55]

A shot of some of my fish.

This is how it looks now.

Another one.
I have an ob zebra also but she is not in here. She's in a thirty gallon and she's holding.

 

[efors]

Everything is going great!

 

[Pittbull]

Should be good..