Hi,

I am in the process hopefully of setting up a cichlid tank. I have talked to someone at Jansens in Auckland and they recommended I use coral sand as the gravel. Can all you cichlid people out there give me some advice on how to best set up my tank. I would really appreciate all the help I can get. If possible I would like to see a tank set up so I can get an idea. I have been to Hollywoods as well and there tanks seem quite sparse of anything other than fish.

Cheers

I've read that's suppose to be quite good sand. I've got just river sand in with my Mbuna's I can tell you they just love it. I'm constantly raking it back in the wholes they dig.

hey,

this is my tank:

i have used crushed coral as my substrate but im pretty sure there is better stuff out there to use, someone else will help you on this one.

i have also used dead coral rock also but you can use just about anything for this but limestone is another good one to use. the coral and lime stone etc is good because it helps buffer the water and keep the pH up.

are you talking of africans

welcome to the world of africans. use what ever you like, some prefer light substrate some dark,go with the flow lots o holes n caves to hide in they'll be happy as

Hey i have malawi cichlids.

I used limestone rocks and lime chip as these keep the Ph up.

They love all the caves and dont seem to mind not having sand.

Darker colour gravel is best as light coloured gravel can wash out the colour of the fish.

Set it up however you like, it has to please you. Depending on what your water is like you may need to add limestone or similar to buffer your tank.

So maybe first step is to test your tap water for ph, carbonate & general hardness.

Frenchy

There are many many types of cichlid which do you intend to keep?

Thanks everyone,

I like the coral sand idea as it looks good. I am glad I can also add dead coral as well, as I love the effect Quack has with his/her tank

Quack, that is one awesome looking tank.

Jimr, I was just going to get anything that looked good. Do you have to seperate the different types??

From what you said about coral sand i assume that you are going for africans.

There are two types Malawi and Tangayikan cichlids. they require slightly diffrent water parameters and malawis can be stocked slightly heavier.

burgo- some cichlids prefer a ph of 5 while others prefer a ph of 8.5 :lol: you dont need coral sand unless you are keeping africans (and even then you dont NEED it, it just helps if your water is soft).

a few of the other large groups of cichlids are central americans and south americans and they prefer slightly acidic to neutral waters

buggar--- I thought this was going to be easy. If I get river sand and use dead coral will that be okay. I will stick with the Malawi's

Cheers

I think like at least frenchy has suggested first port of call would be water tests... To keep africans in my water (it has no buffering at all) I have to have limestone rocks and/or crushed coral/argonite substrate to keep the ph steady..

If your water is naturally stable and the right conditions for malawi's you wont need to use too much stuff..

Hiya have been browsing and came across this on trademe, am thinking of setting up a Mawali tank as well. This trader has 245kg to sell!!

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... d=78044053

I would like to use the coral sand as I like the effect it creates. I have already put a bid in for some of the sand on TM. Quacks & meesheelly's tanks have inspired me to go for this look. What type of cichlids can I go for, if I use the sand.

Cheers

Frenchy my PH out of the tank is normally at about 6.7 which suits my Discus tank

If you google 'malawi cichlids' you will find heaps of info.

yeah if your going for africans maybe start here

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/i ... n_list.php

and keep going you can get lost in all the articles on cichlid forum thats for sure

And when your ready to buy fish post on here and ask around to see whats out there and what people are breeding locally..

if your tap water is 6.7 then you will definatly want something to up your ph, your sand should do the trick nicely

How would BN's go with the sand though? Probally not very well?

is coral sand sharp? i would think so but if the fish are sifting it perhaps it isnt??

BN are fine on normal sand (i have em in my planted on sand) but they do dig in it sometimes. that might be a problem if you have stacks of rocks- wouldnt want them to topple a heap over and come home to a dry tank and a wet floor

She says in the auction it has shell in it, so wether it is smooth or sharp as to suitability of going into a cichlid tank

Also would it be ok after a very through rinse as it has been in Marine?

Also you will need to test the carbonate hardness*. ph is low so you will want some sort of buffer, either as a substract or in a filter.

*Carbonate hardness will tell you how stable the water will be.

Frenchy

Frenchy: How do I test for carbonate hardness??. I currently do tests for PH and Nitrate levels etc but have never heard of this test

carbonate hardness is 'KH' and general hardness is 'GH' on the test kits. aquarium pharm makes a test kit which has both in one kit- i find it quite handy because my water is very soft.

it was about $20 from memory