Just wanted to throw out an aquascaping suggestion to all you apisto owners using gravel as a substrate. I recently added a "sandbox" to my 29g. It attracted the apistos like a magnet. When used in combo with some slate caves I believe it will allow you to have greater control over where your apistos set up thier territory. Other advantages are that it gives me a great place to feed the apistos bbs without losing most of them in the gravel, and the fish love it. It has added a whole new aspect to their behavior. Here's how I did it.
I used ordinary play sand (washed it forever) but pool filter sand might be less work (less rinsing required). I Dug out a depression in the gravel down to the glass. I used chips of shale to kind of hold back the gravel and create a boundry to keep sand and gravel area seperate. Fill it with sand and there you go.
Joe Naysayer: "But Mooman, doesn't the sand and gravel mix together over time and start to look crudy?"
Mooman: "Yes, that's why I developed a sandbox cleaning tool by cutting a hole in a film canister and placing a screen over the hole. I just scoop up sand and gravel. The sand falls out the bottom and the gravel gets dumped outside the sandbox."
Joe Naysayer: "But what if I want to get rid of the sandbox later?"
Mooman: "A regular gravel vac with the gravel washer attachment removed will suck up the sand like a vaccum, but leave the heavier gravel behind."
Here's a pic. You can see the apitos hovering over the "sandbox" in the bottom right. The caves are film canisters with holes cut in them and hidden with shale.
Anybody else have original aquascaping ideas? Please share.
I used ordinary play sand (washed it forever) but pool filter sand might be less work (less rinsing required). I Dug out a depression in the gravel down to the glass. I used chips of shale to kind of hold back the gravel and create a boundry to keep sand and gravel area seperate. Fill it with sand and there you go.
Joe Naysayer: "But Mooman, doesn't the sand and gravel mix together over time and start to look crudy?"
Mooman: "Yes, that's why I developed a sandbox cleaning tool by cutting a hole in a film canister and placing a screen over the hole. I just scoop up sand and gravel. The sand falls out the bottom and the gravel gets dumped outside the sandbox."
Joe Naysayer: "But what if I want to get rid of the sandbox later?"
Mooman: "A regular gravel vac with the gravel washer attachment removed will suck up the sand like a vaccum, but leave the heavier gravel behind."
Here's a pic. You can see the apitos hovering over the "sandbox" in the bottom right. The caves are film canisters with holes cut in them and hidden with shale.
Anybody else have original aquascaping ideas? Please share.
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