Sand vs. Gravel

[bdmminer]

I have a 200 gallon tank I am getting ready to fill with some breeding groups of peacock cichlids. I am new to the concept of sand I have always used gravel in my tanks and did fine, would there be that big of a difference in the amount of fry I get out of my fish if I used sand instead?


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[Tony]

Biggest advantage of sand is that it is does not allow for small particles to settle down in between the individual pieces like gravel does, so it is much easier to clean.

If you are planning on breeding, do not mix more than one peacock species in any size tank. They will absolutely interbreed and there will be no way of telling if the fry are hybrids or not.

If you want to keep multiple breeding groups, add other species from different genuses that are different. Copadichromis, Protomelas, Placidochromis, etc. There's a ton of cool fish out there.

 

[bdmminer]

Ok thanks for the advice, but how do you clean your sand without loosing a lot in the process


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[mchambers]

If you use pool filter sand, it's heavier than play sand, so it doesn't get sucked through the gravel cleaner. At least in my setups, the pfs gets lifted up an inch or two into the gravel cleaner tube if I stick the tube in the sand, but the sand drops back down if the tube is lifted a few inches above the substrate.

 

[jonclark96]

It takes a little bit of practice, but you can get pretty good at not sucking up too much sand. I usually siphon in to buckets and collect any sand that I accidently get and dump it back into the tank after I'm done cleaning.

 

[scientist0724]

I think that it depends on what you have planned for your tanks. Are you going to grow plants in your substrate? Do your fish like to rearrange your substrate?

Arlene

 

[AndyNarwhal]

Also depends on the filter. Sand can be absolute murder on HOB filters but isn't so bad on wet/dry's and most canister filters.

Andy

 

[bdmminer]

Also depends on the filter. Sand can be absolute murder on HOB filters but isn't so bad on wet/dry's and most canister filters.

Andy

I am going to use a refugium filter for this tank with a 625 gal. per min. mag drive pump incorporated in it


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[AndyNarwhal]

Do you mean gallons per hour and not gallons per minute? I can't see the need or even the reason behind using a pump that is 37,500 gallons per hour for a tank that size!

Andy

 

[turfboss]

Andy - pretty sure he meant 625 gal per hour - the largest mag 18 pump only pumps 1800 gal per hour but for 5 times per hour turn over he might want to use a 1000 gal/hour pump.

George

 

[Tony]

625 gph is not enough to filter a 200 gallon tank. I've got a MAG 12 running the sump on my 180 (plus a big HYDOR circ pump and an AC 110 to pull gunk out of the water column).

How big is this refugium filter?

 

[AndyNarwhal]

I kind of figured that too. But they don't make a 625 gph version either. The largest of the square box type Mag drives now made is the 2400. They used to make a 3600 but it's been discontinued.

If the net water flow going into the tank (including losses due to friction and head pressure) is 625 gph then it should be fine for that size tank. This is equivalent to about what a Mag drive 1200 puts out at about 5' head and with a few elbows through 3/4" line.

Andy

 

[yourfishstuff]

I really like sand substrates in my tanks, very natural looking. And in the wild peacocks do use a sensory gland to hunt for food in the sand, which is a behavior not seen in our tanks, but they also like sifting thru the sand.

 

[Hawkman2000]

I have a powerhead setup behind some rocks blowing across the surface of my sand. It keeps everything suspended and the filter picks it up.

My other tank has black sand (denatured coal) and it is pretty easy to vac without sucking up to much substrate.

 

[bdmminer]

Sorry about that, I meant gallons per hour, and I am making the refugium from a 55 gallon tank I got really cheap. But my big question is if it promotes the fish to breed more often with sand or is there much of a difference in how often they, "do the nasty"?


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[Tony]

Sorry about that, I meant gallons per hour, and I am making the refugium from a 55 gallon tank I got really cheap. But my big question is if it promotes the fish to breed more often with sand or is there much of a difference in how often they, "do the nasty"?


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No, it won't encourage them to mate more often, but without all the crap being caught in the gravel will result cleaner water. This will help.

How are you putting a 55 gallon tank up behind/on level with your 200?