Sand and Digestion

[katytropheus]

Saw on another board that sand plays an effective role with tropheus in moving things through the digestive tract--plus for avoiding bloat.  Never saw that point before.  Thoughts from the experts?

[jeebus]

Re: Sand and Digestion

I read that too, but took it with a grain of.. sand? lol..

[geoff_tropheus]

Re: Sand and Digestion

If Cats and Dogs do it with Grass, do Herbivores do it with sand?

Not sure.

I have never had a sand substrate.  

Sorry..

Geoff

[jetchanic]

Re: Sand and Digestion

I know that my ulwiles are always picking up sand and spitting it out.  now whether they ingest some of it I do not know.

[jeebus]

Re: Sand and Digestion

I've got aragonite so I don't think mine have ever swallowed any. I'm curious if PFS could be swallowed and passed.

[katytropheus]

Re: Sand and Digestion

The most senior guy at a LFS in Houston said he has believed this and read it for a long time.  He even said that pool sand should be watched because of the sharp edges.

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Sand and Digestion

I have aragonite substrate sand and have seen sand in their poop at times.

[myjohnson]

Re: Sand and Digestion

never seen them poo out sand in my tank....put have read about this taking place in the wild.

Ecophysiology of Aufwuchs-eating cichlids in Lake Tanganyika: niche separation by trophic specialization

http://www.springerlink.com/content/b17253...30/fulltext.pdf

Read page 286 as well as the abstract.
It seems Troph are not the most veggie of the algae eaters but 35% algae + 25% sand +detritus is a lot of roughage in their diet.