Tahitian moon has no nutrients so it does not help plant growth at all. Its also inert and doesn't change PH levels. Alot of cichlid tanks that I've seen have sand (crushed coral) in them. The cichlids will do their own decorating but it usually doesn't cause any problems as the sand will settle quickly. The only potential problem is the filture intake, you'll want to cover it with some filter floss to prevent sand from entering and messing up your filter's impeller.
tahitian moon sand or black substrate
- Thread starter famman
- Start date
I have black sand(can't remember what brand)in my shell dweller tank and i love the look of it. But i find that it really shows the dirt. Shortly after cleaning it looks dirty again.
But one postive thing about it showing teh debris so easily is taht you really keep up on your water changes
But one postive thing about it showing teh debris so easily is taht you really keep up on your water changes
Sand VS rocks/gravel
I've never used sand before and I think it would look great.
How does it compare to other substrates with thinks like cleaning?
I really don't care if my cichlids move it around b/c I like to make them mad and "fix" what they did. But is it safe for them to pick it up in there mouths?
Thanks for all of the feed back so far.
N8
I've never used sand before and I think it would look great.
How does it compare to other substrates with thinks like cleaning?
I really don't care if my cichlids move it around b/c I like to make them mad and "fix" what they did. But is it safe for them to pick it up in there mouths?
Thanks for all of the feed back so far.
N8
In an unplanted tank with areas of deep sand (deeper than an inch), the sand will need to be stirred up once in a while to prevent anaerobic bacteria from growing and creating creating methane, which is poisonous.
You don't vacuum sand, you just pass the vac close enough to suck up the fish waste. Since sand is denser than gravel, most of the fish waste will remain on the surface.
Swallowing sand doesn't harm the fish.
You don't vacuum sand, you just pass the vac close enough to suck up the fish waste. Since sand is denser than gravel, most of the fish waste will remain on the surface.
Swallowing sand doesn't harm the fish.
Sand
Thanks for the info I think I'm going to try sand in my next tank. It also sounds easyer to clean since you don't have to move all of the sand around to clean like you would on larger substate
Thanks for the info I think I'm going to try sand in my next tank. It also sounds easyer to clean since you don't have to move all of the sand around to clean like you would on larger substate
I am also planning on useing onyx sand and onyx gravel mixed together to rather help prevent deadspot problems if I am not mistaking in my logic. I am also planning on getting some fish that will burrow a bit in the sand I suspect thinking about shell dwellers chiclids if I can find some info on them.
mixing onyx sand and onyx gravel won't help the deadspot issue because the finer grains will eventually sift to the bottom. Having burrowing snails and rooted plants will.
