How Much Sand Per Gallon Or In²?

[Dave1]

i have a 20lb bag of tahitian moon sand (i think thats what it says) and another 50lb bag of generic tan/brown sand.

is that enough sand, or should i have some gravel down on the bottom of the tank? right now i have probably 20lbs of gravel in the tank with approx 25-30 small fish and live plants. (it is a 29 gallon tank)

 

[bluedollars]

i would say you have enough...i have a 29 gallon with cichlids...typically its a pound per gallon...or 2-3 inches of gravel/sand/whatever...and just a side note it sounds like your fish tank is going to be WAAAY overstocked unless they are like neons or something...just be sure they arent going to grow to big

hope i was of some help

P.S. to much sand can cause a build up inside and poison your tank...to less and u dont get that extra bacteria...i think ur on a good line...

 

[Dave1]

yeah i have a Blue Ram, 2 Bolivian Rams, 2 Rasboras, 7 tetras (3 neons, 2 gold fin tetras, and 2 wild blue tetras), 4 barbs, 3 1" plecos, a handfull of endlers' / guppy fry, and last i knew 5+/- ghost shrimp.

 

[bluedollars]

lol im a cichlid guy so its tough for me to know if thats a lot...i lost interest in tropical fish a couple of years ago...cichlids have way more color and are easier to breed...but to me it sounds like you are overstocked...those three plecos will grow to about a foot...

also its a bad idea to mix endlers with guppies...(this i do know because i used to breed both)...unless you bought them from a store where they werent wild caught...endlers and guppies will crossbreed and u wont have true endlers anymore...but it doesnt really matter if your not looking to breed endlers exclusively

and man i hated ghost shrimp....they NEVER lived for me lol...always found them dead or missing after a while and it was cool to because they breed so easily and u can see the eggs she carries...damn shrimp...good luck with your tank

 

[Dave1]

The endlers and/or guppies were feeder fish $.10/ea. and i just got them to add some color in the tank.

When the plecos get bigger i will put them in my family's 55gal tank.

The shrimp were $.26 a piece so i dont mind if they all died, i bought like 10 of them to see how they would be in my tank.

I will gradually change to Cichlids, at first i thought that they were agressive fish.

I am thinking about building a tank, 90-125gal and making my own stand and hood since it would be cheaper and i know a few people that have made tanks, stands, and hoods before.

 

[bluedollars]

yeah they are very aggressive...its all about selectively picking the fish to get along with each other...and making sure a boy has plenty of girls...when u get your cichlids feel free to pm me...

and building a tank is easy....if you got the right equipment so more power to you...let us know how that goes as well

the only thing that sucks about cichlids is you cant have very many...build the biggest tank you can to get more cichlids

 

[Dave1]

i was thinking about Apistos and other American Cichlids.

i was thinking about:
48"x24"x18" would be approx 90gal.
60"x24"x18" would be approx 112gal.
72"x24"x18" would be approx 135gal.

 

[bluedollars]

i keep african cichlids...find them to be much more colorful then american...shoot for the 135...u will be able to fit many in there...
before u get a specific fish...do exstensive research on them...each cichlid has its own destinctive traits unlike topicals in which u just throw them in a tank and there you go...some will run the tank over others and some may just kill everything in its path while others get along...good luck...im off to bed ur on eastern time so u know how late it is...lol time to get some shut eye...good luck