Holly Posted January 12, 2012 Report Share Posted January 12, 2012 Hey guys, After getting terribly excited about my new tank, hunting out plenty of rocks, sand and filling it up I've decided I'm not happy with the substrate I've used. Not cool! So rather than get my fish and then look at it for months, regretting not changing it I've decided to swap it over now! What are you all using for substrate? My tank has a black background, plenty of rocks and is going to have Demasoni and Electric Yellows. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Cheers, Holly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkLB Posted January 12, 2012 Report Share Posted January 12, 2012 Can we see what it looks like now? I've used several substrates in with my Africans and I prefer a dark, fine gravel/coarse sand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matto Posted January 13, 2012 Report Share Posted January 13, 2012 i use waihi beach sand and builders mix from bunnings this is the beach sand and my favorite and the builders mix Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
si_sphinx Posted January 13, 2012 Report Share Posted January 13, 2012 You could try googling Cichlid tank pictures and you can decide what you like the look of. I personally like a 1-2mm white gravel. It brought out the colours of my electric yellows with the lighting I had on the tank IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcrudd Posted January 13, 2012 Report Share Posted January 13, 2012 I use the Midnight gravel, its great, brings the colour out of your fish and is easy to gravel vac too. I bought it from here, I think I bought 25kg if I remember correctly http://www.trademe.co.nz/pets-animals/fish/stones-pebbles/auction-439632805.htm Here is a pic of what it looks like in my tank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tropheus Posted January 13, 2012 Report Share Posted January 13, 2012 If you keeping Cichlids get something with a high PH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navarre Posted January 13, 2012 Report Share Posted January 13, 2012 MIght be hard in dunners to get "aquarium" substrate butthere are soem really good quaries and plant places down there that will have good substrate for you. I have used light sand...coral sand or argonite sand ...and dark in my tanks i like 1-2 mm gravel but size and colour is up to you really not much help but guess garden centre is just as good as pet shop down your way. Nav Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly Posted January 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2012 Can we see what it looks like now? I've used several substrates in with my Africans and I prefer a dark, fine gravel/coarse sand. I will try to put a photo up tomorrow I did a water change today to reduce the cloudiness caused by the poorley washed sand! Hopefully it will have settled enough by tomorrow! MIght be hard in dunners to get "aquarium" substrate butthere are soem really good quaries and plant places down there that will have good substrate for you. I have used light sand...coral sand or argonite sand ...and dark in my tanks i like 1-2 mm gravel but size and colour is up to you really not much help but guess garden centre is just as good as pet shop down your way. Nav I've had a good look at some photos and I think I prefer the look of the white sand so am leaning towards to aragonite sand. What's the upkeep like on it? Where do you find the best place to get it from? Like you said, Dunedin is pretty useless so might need to do a ring around and see what I can find. Thanks for all your help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nudge Posted January 13, 2012 Report Share Posted January 13, 2012 i use crushed marble in my tank, its kinda expensive but it looks good. I got mine through trademe. Not hard to keep it looking good. I do a water change once a week with a decent gravel vac and it seems to work for me. Silica sand is nice to its really white and not to expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly Posted January 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2012 i use crushed marble in my tank, its kinda expensive but it looks good. I got mine through trademe. Not hard to keep it looking good. I do a water change once a week with a decent gravel vac and it seems to work for me. Silica sand is nice to its really white and not to expensive. I was thinking about the silica sand, is it ok to have this for a cichlid tank? Will the pH remain adequate or will I need to get some coral? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackp Posted January 13, 2012 Report Share Posted January 13, 2012 i use coral sand in my tank. it can be quite expensive (though i managed to get 50kg for $80), but it looks awesome. if you do use silica sand you can raise the pH by using bits of coral or limestone in the tank, or crushed oystershell/coral in a bag in your filter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted January 13, 2012 Report Share Posted January 13, 2012 i prefer white crushed marble for mine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted January 13, 2012 Report Share Posted January 13, 2012 here's a pic of one of my tanks with a black background Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim r Posted January 13, 2012 Report Share Posted January 13, 2012 Silica sand is really really cheap to buy but attracts algae, there is a company in Dunedin that sells black sand ( I think I can obtain name ) but I personally find mixing beach sand with sillica sand works for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamstar99 Posted January 13, 2012 Report Share Posted January 13, 2012 I use small black pebbles in mine. I think that the darker substrate gives a better contrast to the fish than the white substrates. It is also more It is also less maintenance to keeping it looking good. All my caves and the like are limestone - which i think you have plenty of down there- to help as a buffer although i still add baking soda and salts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted January 13, 2012 Report Share Posted January 13, 2012 I am a fan of the daker substrates and using limestone to buffer the water. However have seen many amazing tanks with lighter substrates it all hinges on if you can keep the algae from growing on it and all the crap from settling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishy-fish Posted January 13, 2012 Report Share Posted January 13, 2012 I'll "chip" in my two cents... Go for a fine substrate so the fish can dig and move it around as well as one that buffers your PH. Fine grade marble chip and coral sand are great options. I use 1mm marble chip and silica sand in my tanks. The silica sand tank requires PH buffers to be added and is so fine that it gets into the filtration. It does look the business though and the fish move it around which is great for them. The marble chip looks awesome but it does discolour and requires gravel vaccing so cleaning is a bit more involved. Having said all that, if money was no problem, I would go coral sand all day long! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LYNDYLOO Posted January 14, 2012 Report Share Posted January 14, 2012 I'm finding this thread really interesting, I'm seriously thinking about changing my Discus Tank for the same set up you are thinking about with the electric yellows etc. I have no idea where to start, I have fruit salad gravel in my Discus Tank at the moment, so I'm eagerly watching this thread to get some ideas as to whether I need to change my gravel before I do anything else. Think I'm liking the idea of the silica sand :bounce: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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