Pool Filter Sand

[dwarfpike]

That orangehead in the first pic has great color.  :spoton: 

 

[CMooreCichlids]

Looks good! I like how it turned out.  :spoton: 

Thanks! I picked up some Cryptocoryne Wendtii Red from Aquarium Co-Op, and looking to get more Java Fern and some moss.

The tanks current residents are not the most plant friendly, so I'm looking for hardy plants that can handle the low light of the Satellite +

 

[CMooreCichlids]

That orangehead in the first pic has great color.  :spoton: 

Thanks dwarfpike! Yeah I'm really happy with those geo's, they have some crazy attitude on them and amazing patterns.

 

[cichlid-gal]

Love the look of the pothos running the full length of tank and the fish look great. Wonderful job on the rescape.

 

[CMooreCichlids]

Love the look of the pothos running the full length of tank and the fish look great.  Wonderful job on the rescape.

Thank you very much. The pothos can get unwieldy at times, but much less so now that the species of the tank are much smaller. (large cichlids x high nitrate levels = Jumanji!)

The new piece of manzanita is leaching tannins like crazy, which adds another nice dynamic to the tank however I have worries that it might lower my already low PAR readings from the Satellite+ LEDS.

I'm trying to get some low light and very low light plants to help remove the plastic plants from my tank, but we'll see how a partially planted tank works after 2 years of having large cichlids and no plants.

Cheers! :beer: 

 

[DMD123]

I picked up some Cryptocoryne Wendtii Red from Aquarium Co-Op, and looking to get more Java Fern and some moss.

The tanks current residents are not the most plant friendly, so I'm looking for hardy plants that can handle the low light of the Satellite +

I was wondering how it was working with the Silver dollars and the plants....

 

[bronzefighter]

i usually do about an inch deep sand bed to avoid toxic gas pockets building up. 

Whatt? I'm new to sand, does that happen?

If your sand bed is too deep you run risk of anaerobic pockets forming. These are colonies of bacteria that produce things like methane gas. If a bubble of this stuff gets large enough to erupt it can poison/suffocate your fish, plus it smells terrible. The best way to combat this is to ensure your sand gets mixed enough, either manually using a stick or something, or through things like Malaysian Trumpet Snails.

 

[CMooreCichlids]

I picked up some Cryptocoryne Wendtii Red from Aquarium Co-Op, and looking to get more Java Fern and some moss.

The tanks current residents are not the most plant friendly, so I'm looking for hardy plants that can handle the low light of the Satellite +

I was wondering how it was working with the Silver dollars and the plants....

So far I've only seen one instance where a Wendtii Red was being nibbled on, and the Java Ferns seem to be left alone.

Pretty soon I'll be thinning the number of silver dollars in the tank, and the plants should have more of a chance to thrive, but right now the plants are low to the substrate and keeping the silver dollars well fed will divert their attention from the plants, in theory anyways.

 

[CMooreCichlids]

i usually do about an inch deep sand bed to avoid toxic gas pockets building up. 

Whatt? I'm new to sand, does that happen?

If your sand bed is too deep you run risk of anaerobic pockets forming. These are colonies of bacteria that produce things like methane gas. If a bubble of this stuff gets large enough to erupt it can poison/suffocate your fish, plus it smells terrible. The best way to combat this is to ensure your sand gets mixed enough, either manually using a stick or something, or through things like Malaysian Trumpet Snails.

There's currently 4 geophagus Tapajos in the tank that'll help mix the sand up a bit, however I plan on adding a bit of sand stirring to my weekly maintenance to avoid any pockets

 

[DMD123]

So far I've only seen one instance where a Wendtii Red was being nibbled on, and the Java Ferns seem to be left alone.

Pretty soon I'll be thinning the number of silver dollars in the tank, and the plants should have more of a chance to thrive, but right now the plants are low to the substrate and keeping the silver dollars well fed will divert their attention from the plants, in theory anyways.

I have wanted to try my hand at real plants one day but I dont think they would have a chance. Every plastic plant I own has nibble marks on them.

 

[CMooreCichlids]

So far I've only seen one instance where a Wendtii Red was being nibbled on, and the Java Ferns seem to be left alone.

Pretty soon I'll be thinning the number of silver dollars in the tank, and the plants should have more of a chance to thrive, but right now the plants are low to the substrate and keeping the silver dollars well fed will divert their attention from the plants, in theory anyways.

I have wanted to try my hand at real plants one day but I dont think they would have a chance. Every plastic plant I own has nibble marks on them.

I have had large red hooks in a tank populated with amazon swords and didn't have any problems with them eating the plants, however they were constantly running for their life because of the lenticulata pikes.

 

[DMD123]

I have had large red hooks in a tank populated with amazon swords and didn't have any problems with them eating the plants, however they were constantly running for their life because of the lenticulata pikes.

LOL - mine have it too easy with a nice peaceful Pearsei. Although the little Red Isletas is giving them a little fun chase.

 

[bronzefighter]

i usually do about an inch deep sand bed to avoid toxic gas pockets building up. 

Whatt? I'm new to sand, does that happen?

If your sand bed is too deep you run risk of anaerobic pockets forming. These are colonies of bacteria that produce things like methane gas. If a bubble of this stuff gets large enough to erupt it can poison/suffocate your fish, plus it smells terrible. The best way to combat this is to ensure your sand gets mixed enough, either manually using a stick or something, or through things like Malaysian Trumpet Snails.

There's currently 4 geophagus Tapajos in the tank that'll help mix the sand up a bit, however I plan on adding a bit of sand stirring to my weekly maintenance to avoid any pockets

Gotcha, Geo's are pretty good at disturbing the sand. I found that stirring up the sand with a stream of water when refilling during water changes is sufficient for me.

 

[CMooreCichlids]

I have had large red hooks in a tank populated with amazon swords and didn't have any problems with them eating the plants, however they were constantly running for their life because of the lenticulata pikes.

LOL - mine have it too easy with a nice peaceful Pearsei. Although the little Red Isletas is giving them a little fun chase.

Oh yours are living the high life. I think mine where schizophrenic because they never had time to relax, they were fast enough to get away but the pike were constantly after them. I think maybe they left the amazon swords alone because that was the only way to break line of sight!

 

[CMooreCichlids]

i usually do about an inch deep sand bed to avoid toxic gas pockets building up. 

Whatt? I'm new to sand, does that happen?

If your sand bed is too deep you run risk of anaerobic pockets forming. These are colonies of bacteria that produce things like methane gas. If a bubble of this stuff gets large enough to erupt it can poison/suffocate your fish, plus it smells terrible. The best way to combat this is to ensure your sand gets mixed enough, either manually using a stick or something, or through things like Malaysian Trumpet Snails.

There's currently 4 geophagus Tapajos in the tank that'll help mix the sand up a bit, however I plan on adding a bit of sand stirring to my weekly maintenance to avoid any pockets

Gotcha, Geo's are pretty good at disturbing the sand. I found that stirring up the sand with a stream of water when refilling during water changes is sufficient for me.

Excellent, thank you for the advice. The sand is very new, and I wouldn't think anything could be building this soon but I'll definitely keep an eye open and see if I can mix things up with the sand.