Tank Setup

[cookbook]

I have 4 Geophagus balzani, I have them living in a 75 gallon, that's a mess. Rocks, gravel, bottomless flower pots and wood. With a few plants. I want to make over the tank. Want to open the tank up. I have 50 pounds of sands to use. Would they be better off on sand, then gravel ? Fun fish, about 1 1/2 years old. I think I have 2 pairs. They are about 6 inches,. Pictures are of the biggest male. Any suggestion, or comments are welcome.. Thanks For your time.

 

[sir_keith]

Sand, for sure. Geophagus ('earth-eater') sift sand relentlessly in search of food, and are most comfortable with a fine sand substrate. Good luck; G. balzani are super cool fishes.

 

[Paintguy]

I have a mix of normal smooth gravel and sand with my Geos. They do just fine with it, you just have to be careful getting anything crushed with sharp edges or constantly grabbing a mouth of the ground will damage them. Hard to landscape anything in there as they can move almost all the substrate in my tank to the front of the glass in a couple days... wish they would push it to the back. Also note that a tank with pure sand is a real pain to vacuum and can screw up a filter impeller. I tried pool sand once.

If I were to start over I would look for some kind of large grain sand.