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Pet Forum / Aquaria / Cichlids / December 2005sand substrate
I've got some fish for whom a sand substrate is reccomended (Geophageous, African Peacocks) but I have always found in the past that sand inevitably gets into the impellers for power filters and / power heads, destroying them. 1) Is this the case or am I doing something wrong, and 2) if it is the case, how does one set up a tank with a sand substrate (air lines only?) and 3) what is a good alternative? I don't want my fish hurting their mouths and ultimately getting injured or dying due to the harshness of the substrate but I dont want to have to keep replacing filters every two weeks. Advice would be appreciated. DB I don't know if the requirement of a sand substrate is being a little overstated. I'm sure nature provides a variety of substrates, and even sand sifters can ignore sand, if they are being fed processed foods (no need to hunt in the sand for food). I don't think you would have any trouble using a coarse rounded sand (too heavy to get into the filters (or a fine rounded gravel), but I'll try to answer your questions anyways. > I've got some fish for whom a sand substrate is reccomended > (Geophageous, [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > only?) > and 3) what is a good alternative? Position your intakes higher up, and away from areas the fish will be digging around. I had a Firemouth figure out that his sand pit would not refill if he blew the sand out over by the filter intake, smart fish, clogged filter. Sand-proof filters are sponge filters (running on a powerhead, perhaps powering a pro 60 bio-wheel for a wide spectrum filtration. Using course sand or fine gravel will help keep it out of any filter media. > I don't want my fish hurting their mouths and ultimately getting > injured or [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > DB Sharp coarse substrate can cause some damage (like erode the whiskers of a cory), but rounded substrate of any size should not cause any damage (unless a stone is so large to get stuck ;~). I've had Geos and they have no problem moving gravel around, on a regular basis. My African Peacocks never did much in the gravel, but I never bred them, so I don't know how particular they could be. hth  Signaturewww.NetMax.tk Thanks that does help > know how particular they could be. hth > -- > www.NetMax.tk > I've got some fish for whom a sand substrate is reccomended (Geophageous, > African Peacocks) but I have always found in the past that sand inevitably [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > DB I'm a lover of sand substrate, not only does it look very professional. But it great fun to watch your fish digging it up and filtering it through there gills. Signaturehttp://www.fish2keep.com Tropical | Marine | Coldwater Community Forums |
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