do cichilids prefere sand or gravel on the bottom of the tank?

Question

whitch one do i bye in my new tank that im hal way setting up sand or gravel and is it true that sand for fish tanks higher the ph levels thanks

thanks to you all for being so helpfull thanks

Answer 1

sand is good for cichlids because

1 if you buy sand made from crushed shell and creshed corals if will act like a buffer for you water and keep your tank around 8.0ph

2 most cichlids love to dig and re-arrange

3 it is very easy to clean the dirt doesnt fall down the crackes like in gravel it will just lay on top and if you have a little current it should go into your filter and its much cleaner looking.

there is another type of sand which is made of silicates and i tihnk that this type will not buffer your water. it is also safe to use i just bought some playsand at lowes last night to go into my 25gall yellow lab breeding tank.

good luck with your problem
Dave Shepp
www.pa-cichlids.com
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Answer 2

Most Cichlids prefer sand because it allows them to dig more easily. If you do use sand, make sure to put all decoration directly onto the bottom glass of the tank. Don't set it on the sand, the fish can dig under it and cause it to collapse, leading to injury or death.

Nosoop4u

Answer 3

it's depend on what type og cichlid if it malawi cichlid they would perfere sand and if it any other type of cichlid/ itwould like gravel, and be sure to put some big rock in the and for the to hide

Answer 4

crushed coral keeps PH levels up and you can get it so fine that it has the appearance of sand, I have large cichlids as well as small ones And use a combination of crushed coral and stone the move the coral around quite a bit not the stones though

Answer 5

Sand

Answer 6

get gravel because cichlids like to pick up the gravel and move it around and if they do it with sand they could swallow it and choke but with gravel it wont fit in there throat

Answer 7

it depends on the type of cichlids, small africans likeshellies would like sand and shells.

larger african cichlids wont usually care.

Other cichlids like south and cental american cichlids wont care.

for more help, please see my forum, http://fishroom.rapidboards.com

Answer 8

gravel rocks to move them around.