substrate

[todaie12]

I'm setting up an oscar / parrot tank. I was wondering what substrate do they like. Sand or pea size gravel?

[cocoa_pleco]

either or, if you have your filter intakes up high you can use sand

[Tooch]

As long as it's heavy sand, or that Estes stuff someone keeps talkin about (can't remember who... Fishguy maybe?). Oscars love to move stuff around. I had sand initially, stuff made for aquariums. I put it in, let it sit a few days until it cleared, and then put my Oscar in. The first night, everything was good. Nice and clear, he was happy. Well the 2nd night, when I woke up in the morning, the tank looked like milk and the filters were clogged. He dug a huge hole in the middle of the tank down to the glass, and moved all the sand to the right side and made a mountian. It's awesome watching these guys arrange the substrate to how they want it, but be sure to put in something that is 100% guaranteed not to cloud when stirred.

[cocoa_pleco]

i use estes and geosystem sand, estes would work well

[Fishguy2727]

Yes, I only use and recommend Estes' Marine Sand (not actually marine, fyi). I have no issues with it at all. It is clean right out of the bag. It is heavy so for there to be issues with the filters the fish literally needs to spit it in to the filter intakes.

One important aspect for cichlids (and other high waste producers) is that it keeps the waste on top so the flwo can keep it moving until the filters grab it. Gravel will trap lots of debris, leading to nitrate problems down the road.

Sand will also not build up as steeply if piled (something cichlids like to do).

[jbeining75]

I have set sand and gravel tanks both for my Oscars... From my own experiences they prefer the gravel more than the sand because they cab pick it up and play with that.... With that being said sand is more natural to their environment and will provide the proper sloping of pits that they prefer if they breed out....

[Tooch]

I'm not sure if this is true or not, but I've read somewhere that there are certian types of sand that, if ingested (which may not be suprising with the Oscar sucking up/spitting out so much), fish cannot digest causing blockage problems. Anyone else ever hear of this?

[Fishguy2727]

This is true of any loose substrate. The difference is how much sand would need to be consumed to cause a blockage and how much gravel (being larger) would need to be consumed to do the same. It takes less gravel to block an animal up.

[Tooch]

This is true of any loose substrate. The difference is how much sand would need to be consumed to cause a blockage and how much gravel (being larger) would need to be consumed to do the same. It takes less gravel to block an animal up.


True, but on the flip side (and I should have added this), there was a type of sand that the fish could digest. True or untrue?

Would they be able to pass the gravel, if it's not a huge amount?


(I hope I'm not thread-jackin here... It's relevant, so I thought it would be ok... Sorry to the OP if you disagree, I'll ask elsewhere!)

[Fishguy2727]

If it is calcium based (true marine sands) then they may be able to break it down. But even too much of this can cause a blockage.

Sand and gravel can be passed if not too much is consumed and the animal is large enough (larger animal needed to pass larger gravel).

[todaie12]

I got my 55g tank today and I went with gravel. Now I'm just waiting for my oscars now. I'm going to do a fishless cycle also. I'm So Happy. :19: thumbs2: :19: thumbs2:

[Nautilus291]

Sounds like fun. I started off with gravel then switched to play sand in my 55g tank. I love it. I tried to use the estate sand on my 75g and It was too light for me Im in the process of switching over but nobody sells playsand in the winter so Im stuck with half a tank of playsand and the other half estate.

[todaie12]

Tell me about it, I couldn't find it anywhere.

[Fishguy2727]

Estes?
Too light in color?
I just add more black.