The Daily Cichlid

Gravel Substrate comes in all sizes and colours, From natural coloured river rock to coarse peppered white quartz, to neon green, blue, yellow, pink, black, white - all colours of the rainbow. It is expensive because depending on the grain size or rock size it ranges between $2/lb or higher. $20 - $40/20lb bag. Gravel is popular because it comes in all kinds of colours but it is far less useful in a Cichlid tank and in fact it is a huge, whopping, pain in the ass.

Let me explain: 

Gravel traps waste and uneaten food and you have to vacuum it extensively every water change to curb Nitrate, Nitrite and Ammonia spikes before they happen. Gravel also over time can look very dingy (especially natural or light coloured kinds) because eventually despite cleaning it with the vacuum every water change, it will develop algae on every stone which can't be vacuumed off you will physically have to take all the gravel out at once (stirring up all the left over waste and food into one big dangerous cloud of Nitrates and other nasties) in order to rinse off the algae in a hot water and bleach solution. 

As we all know, once you have algae you will always have algae and in a matter of weeks you will be right back to algae covered substrate. With sand if you notice algae growing on the surface in some areas, simply stir until the algae covered sand is on the bottom layer and it will die because of lack of light. Sand also offers a larger surface area for beneficial bacteria to form. When there is left over food or waste it doesn't get trapped underneith in tiny little crevices and instead, the waste sits on the surface making vacuuming very easy. You simply have to run your syphon hose 1 inch above the surface and let the hose suck the waste and food particles instead of digging into it. Once every 4-6 weeks it is beneficial to stir the bottom layers of sand up with your fingers or an extendable stir stick to release gases or waste buildup that does get mixed into the sand, once the particles settle remove by syphoning.     

Designer Sands or Name Brand Sand:  An example of Designer Sand is Black Sand or Tahitian Moon Sand, There are other name brand or designer brands of sand and they usually cost between $25-$30 /20lbs or over a $1/lb. They are prepared almost completely, meaning these sands require very little cleaning and come in a variety of colours. Aside from Tahitian moon sand which is made from crushed obsidian, designer or name brand sands are just different coloured forms of silica sand that has been sorted and selected based on colour and grain size. It is not recommended to use fine grains in a Cichlid tank because the bastards spit it and move it everywhere and you don't want it getting into your filtration system.  

Crushed Coral Sand:  Crushed Coral Sand is around $20/20lb bag which is $1/lb. It can be beneficial if you are using water where the ph fluctuates over time or is unstable. usually it is used in conjunction with other substrates such as fine gravel, pool filter sand, play sand, and designer sands as a ph buffer. Topfin Produces a environmentally safe Crushed Coral Sand that doesn't use coral found in reefs and is in most cases a form of Crushed Aragonite or coral that has been farm grown outside of the Ocean ("green" version of crushed coral substrates). Our Reefs in the Ocean are depleting because of pollution and coral farming for the aquarium industry. It is admirable when a company creates a product that doesn't use up any more of our natural resources and I tip my hat to topfin and other companies that are switching to environmentally friendly products. 

Aragonite Sand:  is made up of crushed calcium carbonate, CaCO3 (the other form being the mineral calcite) it is cheaper than Crushed coral and Crushed Coral substitutes at under $1/lb a 30lb bag will cost $23-$25. It essentually does the same thing as Crushed Coral. Aragonite Buffers the Ph and keeps it stable. Aragonite may raise PH if used in neutral or acidic water.  

Pool Filter Sand: $10 will get you 50lbs of pure white or tan silica sand with black or dark flecks and under the right light the sand appears to glow or sparkle. It requires less prep time (cleaning) than Play Sand and it is almost the same price. If your going to go cheap but want quality this is where it is at. Pool Filter Sand comes in a coarse or larger grain size and is therefore heavier. The risk of the sand entering your filter when destructive Cichlids are having fun moving it around is almost reduced to zero because when it is churned up or spat out, it almost immediately sinks to the bottom of the aquarium.

Sandblasting Sand: It is cheap and offers a tan sparkling type of colour and costs $10 per 80lb bag. It is just large grain silica sand. MAKE SURE TO READ THE LABEL! A lot of sandblasting companies use metal slag in their sand blasting media. Metal slag will pollute your tank and kill your fish also if left in there long enough it will rust or bind together and form a large heavy clump of rusted metal on your tanks floor because it is usually made out of a combination of iron and copper slag. I have never used sandblasting medium in my aquarium because I have yet to find any that is made strictly out of high quality silica sand. Most people I've heard from on the fish forums used the metal slag form because they like the look of black sand but didn't want to pay designer sand prices only to have all their fish die and a big mess to clean up because they neglected to read the label. They thought that like pool filter sand it was simply a cheaper source of silica sand.  

Below I have pictures of the various types of substrate available which are suitable for Cichlids.