Substrate Problem

[The Pack]

What a pain ! The other day I spent a number of hours tearing down a 33gal. tank in which I had been housing some juvenile cacatuoides, and set it up with a lot of plants, driftwood, and caves in anticipation of accomodating a pair of A. panduro. Since I didn't want to go to the trouble of cycling the tank all over again , I left the substrate in the tank and just gave it a thorough vacuuming and topped the tank up with RO water,(about 20 gal.) To make a long story short, I found that the ph kept rebounding from about6.5 to around7.5. I found after using the acid test that the gravel substrate was the problem. Since I would like to change this substrate as soon as possible I would like some suggestions. I have looked at sand sold as general purpose sand at Home Depot , but it was extremly fine and dusty. I also looked at pool filter sand and it is soo white that I don't think the fish would be comfortable with it. Any suggestions?

[Randall]

Hello Pack,

If your substate is the problem, you can always mix the white pool sand with something darker to tone it down a bit.

Good luck!

Randall Kohn

[Cichlid Junkie]

I use silica sand, which is whiter than pool filter sand and the fish are fine. I have also used play sand (a chore to clean) and black tahitian moon sand. They all look good, but I like the silica sand the best. It really makes my cacatuoides color stand out. Plus the plants look good against it! :)

[tjnelson44]

Cichlid Junkie,
Did you have any problems with the Tahitian moon sand raising your pH? I have it in a 40 breeder and it looks good but the water has a pH of 7.5. This blend of water has a pH of <7 in other tanks. Aside from the sand, the only other stuff in the tank are some plants and a large piece of drift wood so I am pretty sure that it is the sand.
Trevor

[Cichlid Junkie]

It was close to a year ago that I had that tank set up, but I dont remember the ph being altered at all. It is hard as heck to see fry swiming close to/sitting on that color sand!