Ocean Coral

[aqua monster]

Hi can any one tell me what is the best size of Ocean Coral to get for my cichlid tank and where is best to order online..?

 

[aqua monster]

is it best to go for ocean coral or sand...?

 

[stang1]

Play sand will be fine as a substrate so wouldn't worry too much about that.
For rock, go for either ocean or tufa rock, both will help buffer the PH naturally. Not sure of any online stores but worth having a look on E-bay.

 

[aqua monster]

Hi i got around 20 or so pieces of ocean rock all diff sizes... some people say use crushed coral and others say go with the sand..
what is the ups and downs of both...

 

[stang1]

Crushed coral will help buffer the PH too but I've heard that it can irritate the gills. Not sure if this is true or not but I didn't want to take the chance when I set mine up.
I used play sand which looked more natural to me, although it is down to personal preference.

 

[aqua monster]

do you know if the play sand comes in many colours and if so what is the best colour for the fish as i did read if its too bright they will not like it..?

 

[stang1]

The play sand I had was more brown than bright, although I'm sure there are different colours available. Never heard of bright substrate being a problem, especially as coral sand is quite light.

 

[aqua monster]

i might have it round the wrong way... it might of been the coral that was no good for them..

how much sand would i need for a 5ft by 2ft by 2ft tank

 

[stang1]

That's prety much the same size tank that I had and I can't remember how much we used!
You are best either using egg crate to put your rocks on or a very fine layer of sand as the cichlids will dig around and you don't want to risk having the rock fall.
I'm sure we only used about 25kg as the rock covered a fair bit of the bottom of the tank.

 

[aqua monster]

can you do a mix of sand and coral say 50/50

 

[stang1]

No reason why not, although not sure how it would look.

 

[aqua monster]

me too i just dont want to get it wrong and have to take it all out as it does not work or does not look good...

havr you just got all sand..? how deep did you put it in and does it move about alot

 

[stang1]

I did have just sand and the cichlids did move it about quite a bit. I'll try and get a couple of pics up.

 

[aqua monster]

I did have just sand and the cichlids did move it about quite a bit. I'll try and get a couple of pics up.

Thankyou Buddy

 

[stang1]

Not a brilliant pic but hope it gives you some idea