my4age Posted September 4, 2008 Report Share Posted September 4, 2008 i am thinking of redoing my tank with lighter substrate, maybe fine calcite like my other tanks or silica sand and with some crushed corals in my filter. is there any downside of using silica sand? It's for African cichlids tank. Any suggestion is much appreciated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted September 4, 2008 Report Share Posted September 4, 2008 Downsides are its very fine and easily stirred up, and all the crap sits on top of it so its impossible to keep looking clean. Make sure your filter intakes are 40cm+ above the substrate so they don't suck in stirred up sand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deno Posted September 4, 2008 Report Share Posted September 4, 2008 40cm? thats almost half a metre Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted September 4, 2008 Report Share Posted September 4, 2008 how deep is your tank? I had silica sand in a 3'x18"x18" tank with cichlids and I had to move the intakes for the canisters to just below the surface to avoid sucking the sand up when it got stirred up. Another option would be to put a fine sponge over the intake of the filter, but this might reduce the flow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
my4age Posted September 5, 2008 Author Report Share Posted September 5, 2008 it's a 4'x18"x18" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted September 5, 2008 Report Share Posted September 5, 2008 Yeah that silica sand looks wicked I have a bag of it at home but haven't set it up in a tank I think there maybe problems with it being too fine, I have issues at the moment with the FX5 sucking up crushed coral and argonite and thats nowhere near as fine.. It would be interesting to see how it goes, maybe set it up in a smaller tank first? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Whip Posted September 8, 2008 Report Share Posted September 8, 2008 try pool filter sand it's about 1.5-3mm. Works fine in my tank. Plus 1 bag at $25 was all I needed for my 4 foot tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.