Whats the best sand for a Jack Dempsey?

[billy2guns]

I'm looking to change my gravel out for sand. What is the best sand for a Jack Dempsey Cichlid? Is sand hard to keep clean? Does it make a big mess?

[Algenco]

grade 20 pool sand

[Katt]

No I don`t think sand is hard to clean. The poo don't go down as gravel dose.
And it take`s some time to get use to not sucking it up with the gravel vacuum. You also want to run your finger`s through it to keep gas bobbles forming.
I cut both my intake`s in half to help stop the sand getting into the filter`s.
I hope that helped.

[Incredulous_Ed]

Aquarium sand is the best. Either that or large round gravel.

[gm72]

I use pool filter sand. Awesome because it can be siphon-cleaned and will not go all the way up into the gravel vac.

[Nautilus29]

I used play sand in my tank you just have to make sure you clean it out really well before putting it into your tank. Sand is the easiest to clean because the poo stays on top of the sand instead of falling through the cracks of the gravel. You just have to run a gravel vac and pic up all of the large items(poo and uneaten food) off of the top of the sand and then when you are done you run your fingers through the sand to stop anairobic bacteria from forming.

You will also want to make sure your intake tubes on your filters are 4 inches off of the sand bed so it doesnt suck up any debree. And DONT run your filter untill the sand settles down after water changes or it will ruin it.

After I switched to sand on one of my tanks I switched it to all of them. The only way I would go back is if I heavily planted one of my tanks and the debree that fell between the stones act as a fertilizer.

When you switch to sand only do 1/3 of the tank every 1 or 2 weeks that way you dont go through a mini (establishing) period and your ammonia and nitrites jump up.

[rageybug]

I use silica sand from my local swimming pool store for my cichlid tank. The stuff is dirt cheap and vacuums very easily. It is heavy enough that it won't get sucked up into your vacuum.

Be very carefull with silica sand when you use it. It can be nasty stuff. Wear a mask or open the bag under water because the dust from it is dangerous.

[Nick89]

Don't mean to take over the thread but, whats the best sand for an oscar/firemouths?

[Nautilus29]

Really its whatever you prefer as long is it doesnt raise the ph and hardness of the tank. also lighter colored sands can take away from the color of the fish since fish try to blend into the enviorments and if you have a light colored substrate then they will lighten their colors.

[Nick89]

Maybe something darker type sand?? That doesn't raise my ph up or anything? What you reccommend?

[Nautilus29]

I use playsand its tan color and makes the tank look natural. its also very cheap. just make sure you read my above post on how to take care of a tank with sand. I had white sand in one of my tanks and my fish looked horrible I had to take it out they drianed all of their colors. the tan color seems to be dark enough that they keep their colors.