Tropheus Substrate Discussion

[FrontosaurusRex]

well, after helpin Geoff move all weekend...it finally rubbed off on me. I just finished removing about 85% of the sand from the tank.

God i hope you're kidding....
No offense to Geoff or anybody else, but i think tanks without sand look like crap. You might as well put a bunch of toys from Petco in there. Its not a natural environment for the fish. i dont know man, if i can be honest, i think you should be original and do something else.

[FrontosaurusRex]

PS....i personally think you have some of the best looking Petros of all the ones i've seen so far, and with the right aquascaping, you could have one of the sickest tanks on the box.

[peterp63]

I agree that your fish are probably happier with sand or at least some sort of substrate.... I also agree that just having glass down there looks like crap, but it's much easier to siphon up detritus. If you have the right flow and filtration this shouldn't be a big issue anyways. But, to each there own....

Also, I bet your fish loved to pick up the sand and sift it in there mouths and move it around to how they liked it. Just more natural to have it there for them.

[geoff_tropheus]

All my fish must be too busy breeding than picking up sand and moving it. But like you said...to each his own...

It makes for some nice little caves here and there under the rocks that only fry can get to.

It also makes for a lot less debris in the tanks, and a hell of a lot easier to clean. AND A LOT LESS NITRATE in the tank because its so much cleaner.

I have no problem in saying that it looks comepletely better with substrate, but its not a requirement. Otherwise my fish I've had for over 10 years would be so stressed they'd all died on me years ago and not making babies...

And when it comes to originality, I am minority here. Most people run with substrate not without.

[geoff_tropheus]

I actually thought about putting sponge bob toy in there but...I knew I'd get killed on here for it.

but I dont really care what others think about my tanks. I know they sure love my fish.

[Chris Derrick]

well, after helpin Geoff move all weekend...it finally rubbed off on me. I just finished removing about 85% of the sand from the tank. It was really easy too. I just got a large rubbermaid and put the drain tube in there and starting sucking the sand out. the sand was heavy enough to fall to the bottom and the rubbermaid just constantly overflowed into the grass. in a couple days(next waterchange) I will remove the rock and get the remaining sand out. I will post pics when Im done with that. the fish have already showed that they like it. the petros are shakin again and the trophs are too!!!

Well that darn Geoff caused me to go and suck all the sand out as well about week and half ago! I put it all in the back yard nice neet pile and if wanted to go back with it in future woudl be able to just rinse and reuse. I had about $75 in 3M Quarts S-type fine white sand! Just my luck the next day my yard guy comes over and sprays for weeds and gets it all over the sand! ERRRRRR! So there goes $75 down drain! I can tell you what I have found are the pro's the fish poo gets 90% picked up in my FX 5 and my sump, and my two emp 400's I have two Korilla #4 going from side to side and that is cool no poo hardly! My Nitrates stay at around 10 ppm even with sand because I do two large water changes a week any how. I do like how the rocks look on the glass. Well the cons so far are 1-the bright yellow sticker in cente of the tank underneith that reads DO NOT DRILL that looks bad, 2-I have brown algea growing over the entire bottom of my tank now that looks bad! 3-I am scared to death I am going to drop a rock and break glass! Clean up is a breeze now but i wish I had my sand back I think! And for the record Geoff didn't talk me into this I just loved his tanks they way they looked! Thanks CD

[peterp63]

[Chris Derrick]

Question on Substrate

Well I am curious as to what you all run for sand in your tropheus tanks. I had the 3M Quarts Type S White it was nice but I had to stop using my pyton tube to clean tank because it would suck the sand to the top then clog up or just suck a ton of sand through hose. I had pool filter sand in a tank for awhile but it really was to dark and you could hardly find the fish poop. Is there any sand that they poop will stay on top of and will not blow around easily with say like my Korilla #4 with my quarts in the tank these guys almost had to be aimed up to keep from moving the sand around and filters sucking it in. I don't want to spend a fortune on the stuff either. I noticed Pets mart had some stuff Caribsea white sand that was fine. I am interested how you all vacume your sand also without sucking bunch up? Ihad to use hose end and go around holding off the sand a bit and suck in what I could and still sucked lots of sand out! Thanks CD

[tbui1178]

Most use pool filter sand from Leslie's Pool. Not sure if you Leslie's pools is in OK.

[Mzungu]

I understand having substrate if the lifestyle of the fish includes it. For instance, cichlids that dig pits for spawning and rearing fry. But I wasn't aware that Tropheus were "sand-dwellers."

I have substrate in all of my tanks except 1, but that's because all of my tanks have plants. The one without is a fry-rearing tank on which I do 50% water changes every other day and feed heavily. (Hmm, almost sounds like a Troph tank! ) )

I'll say one thing - those guys would still be moving tanks if Geoff used substrate.

Randall, post pics when you can. I'm curious to see how it looks! And sand or no sand, I'm sure the fish are happy. I have no complaints about tanks with no substrate, don't think they look bad unless something's off, like Chris was describing about the sticker on the bottom. :)

[FrontosaurusRex]

I'm sorry if i offended anyone, that was totally not the intent of my comments. Man, do whatever you want in your tank, hopefully everything will be cool and your fish will start makin babies. I kind of feel like the fish in the tank are only half of the equation and aquascaping the other half. Good luck with whatever decision you make and post some pics when you're done.

[geoff_tropheus]

It takes a lot to offend me dude, dont worry about that. I am in no way offended by any comments such as that. Everyone has opinons and there are more than one way to skin a cat.

My tanks are just without substrate, they are not without aquascaping. Fish have to have a place to recover from stress that is a requirement. Otherwise there is a problem.

And like I said, I do think they look better, but for me with so many tanks and my time as precious as is it, it is so much easier for me to not have it for cleaning, and for fry catching. My tanks are a lot about functionality, and not really display.

To keep the bottom glass clean keep a bristlenose pleco. I have one in every tank but the 115 and the small QT tanks. They do a really nice job. I got a single little female in the 300 8ft and she keeps a really clean house.

[CichlidFan]

Yeah, Pool Filter Sand is one of the most popular types of substrates, but some guys have nothing on the bottom of their tanks....

I personally like small gravel and Leslies PFS....But, I too may go to a bare bottom tank someday....??

CF

[Chris Derrick]

What is the difference between leslies and any other pool filtersand? Thanks

[TaTeR ToT]

heres a pic of the leslies pfs in my 75g troph tank.

its a larger grain size, lighter in color, and doesnt stay stirred in the water colum