keeping the dempsey Help with tank!!!

[krystalsohun]

Okay so i'm keeping my crazy Jd. I figure since i know him and how he is that i can provide the best quality life for him. but now i want an over the top looking tank. I'm putting him back into the 40 gallon for now. I want to get some really different looking substrate. right now i have purple and black gravel blah. i am going for a natural looking tank just really over the top. I was thinking about getting marble or granite chunks about inch by inch big (maybe a little smaller) for the substate. I do have plants in there amozon swords and anubis nana. plus drift wood and lava rocks. any idea if this would mess with my params?? any other suggestions on what substate to use that looks different but natural???

[krystalsohun]

P.S. what changed my mind about the jd is i had a buyer for him and when he arrived he said " oh cool he be great with my 6 inch red devil and dovvi" I said leave now he will only be lunch in that tank. so now i wont sell him cuz what if this guy wouldn't of slipped and told me, my fish would have been lunch!!

[Northernguy]

If you have that tank then keep it.
You will enjoy watching this fish grow.
Its too bad he is a loner but some fish just are!
You can get natural gravel for the tank.I like a natural looking sand.Very easy to clean as well.

[Padams]

Depending on you tank the Granite will definately scratch the ____ out of glass if moved around during cleaning. It may do the same to acrylic. If you used something as a "buffer" then you would probably be ok. Just remember Granite is one of the harder rocks out there. 6-7 on Moh's Scale

Due to its general heavier weight it displaces a bit more than most as well

[krystalsohun]

see this is why i ask questions because i didnt think about scratching the darn glass. i dont like natural gravel because to me its hum drum ordinary. any other suggestions maybe quartz??

[jackson17]

Sand? Play sand or some black sand. The black sand brings out the colors of the fish to. And sand with cichlids is fun, all mine take the sand and play with it and spit it around.

[krystalsohun]

Oh i guess if forgot to put that i want sonething my jd will not be able to move easliy and i have had to many bad experiences with sand (killing filters). the reason i dont want it to be able to be moved is or the plants sake lol.. the swords wanna stay were they are lol. I like shells but my guy likes low ph so that wont work. If anyone has any suggestions that are different please feel free to let me know. thanks in advance.

[jackson17]

You could try the eco complete stuff. I'm pretty sure it comes in different sizes that range from sand, to gravel size. That is a blackish color so it would also look good, be hard from him to move it, and help out the plants.

[krystalsohun]

any body ever use onyx gravel ?? I like how it looks are the peices big?

[jackson17]

I think someone here suggested it to some1 else in another thread. I know they liked it, just not sure on the size.

[krystalsohun]

thanks jackson17 I want different but natural I wnder if thats possible lol. I wonder what it does to ph it says slight buffer on one ad.

[jackson17]

Let me find that post lol. I remember reading it and it said will not alter ph or hardness.

here it is

http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/OnyxSand.html


they also sell flourite. Which is good for plants, and it comes in larger sizes. Also has a mix of black, red and black and red colors.

[krystalsohun]

I saw that its onyx sand. i was looking at the gravel. see look
http://www.aquariumguys.com/onyxgravel.html

I just cant tell what it does to the water params. I have out the tap and in the tank. 6.4 ph 5 kh 6gh. which my Jd loves cuz he's CA. The thing that worries me is it says on some sites great for african cichlids and they like higher ph than SA/CA.

[jackson17]

Look at the link I posted under related products. It has some other gravel type stuff. Flourite is the name. It says right in the description it is a gravel made for plants to flourish but wont alter PH.

[krystalsohun]

yeah but i'm difficult and dont like the look of flourite lol:hmm3grin2orange:

[jackson17]

What exactly are you looking for? You can always do it layered. You can buy some flourite, and put it around you plants just so the roots are touching it, then put something over it. So you have the best of both worlds.

What exactly are you looking for though? lol

[Padams]

here a ton of choices (http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ctl3684/cp18302/cl0/?pageLimit=48&oldParentID=&item_orderbydirection=DESC&item_orderby=csku_qsoldstore&ctl_nbr=3684&keys=&attrib_cnt=&attrib_search=&attrib_id_0=&attrib_value_0=&viewType=Category&specialOffers=&merchgroup=&isManufacturer=)

have you considered river stone and sand?

[krystalsohun]

Jackson thats a good question what do i want...............well i want something different than normal gravel or sand. something that stands out but is natural looking. i liked grantie marble chunks but they will probaly scratch my glass. I want something big enough that its not easliy moved like sand or regular gravel. also something that will do good with plants (but not neccesarly for plants) I have only amozon swords in the substrate so a bigger gravel should do well with them (heavy rooters). I like this onyx gravel except for the "buffering" of ph it says it does. and now i'm looking at some dark plum (Cheaper) or Black (way expensive $40 5lbs!!) sea glass. any suggestions i will gladly look into.

[jackson17]

Well on the products actual site, not a seller, it says it doesn't buffer PH. PM monkeypox, I think he uses it. One way to check, is buy the smallest amount possible, take some tank water and put it in a bucket, then add the substrate and test.

Most fish are demesticated and tank breed, they can adapt easily to PH with the right method of acclimating them. I wouldn't worry to much about that making your PH do anything crazy. If you add a little at a time, if it does raise your PH, it will do it slowly thus letting the fish be fine with it. I had a jack dempsey when I first started my tank, my PH is about 7.5 give or take (havn't tested in a while, no need) and he did just fine. Showing off colors and everything.

[krystalsohun]

how would i add a little at a time (stupid ?) If i'm taking out the old shouldnt it be right in with the new. Plus i have to put the plants back in once its added. so shouldnt this be a quick (few hours) process.

[jackson17]

Well the product shouldn't change your PH so you can add all at once if you want. Just to be safe, you could add a little at a time, say take out 1/3 of what you have, replace with 1/3 of the other stuff. Just leave the plants for last, or first, doesn't really matter. Just as long as the plants are rooted to something, it wont really matter what it is.

[krystalsohun]

thanks jackson 17 youve been big help here.:11:

[jackson17]

:22: Your welcome:22:

[krystalsohun]

monkeypox helped alot. apparently it wont raise it much and it'll help keep it there. maybe i should do before and after pics when i'm done. thanks guys. any other suggestions will be great.

[jackson17]

Before and after pictures are a must! lol