# West African Substrate



## greenmonkey51 (May 25, 2004)

What is the best substrate for a west african biotope.


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## PsYcHoTiC_MaDmAn (Dec 26, 2005)

sand.

I assume its for kribs or similar small cichlids. in which case some leaf litter may be appreciated. coconut shells (though not biotope correct) will be suitable for caves, and when grown over with moss will be near invisible in the tank


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## greenmonkey51 (May 25, 2004)

Are tree roots a common structure in the west african rivers. Foster and Smith has a cool plastic molded tree root and I though it would be a cool thing to build around.


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## PsYcHoTiC_MaDmAn (Dec 26, 2005)

would have thought they'd feature.

however I would advise that making your own tree "root" out of bog wood will look a lot more natural.

I had a plastic "stump/root" thing before, and have seen it used in other tanks as well, and I realise now how horribly fake it looks. plus it had holes in it, and I lost a fish due to it getting stuck, and I only found it a day or 2 after it going missing.. and have heard similar stories where people cracked it open to free them


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## Matts_Cichlids (Jul 29, 2007)

A piece of natural driftwood looks much better than the plastic copies and I also found that uneaten food would also get stuck inside the fake stump where the fish couldnt get it so I would imagine that isnt too good for water quality either.

Oh and go with the sand substrate :wink:


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## dwarfpike (Jan 22, 2008)

While this particular fish is wide spread and of course not all areas of west africa would look like this, I have an article that describes a collection location of _Pelvicachromis taeniatus_ ...

black mud (use black sand instead, mud is just too messy), red and black lava rocks, driftwood and roots (mopani wood is from the area), with anubias, african fern, lotus, and crinum species.


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## fmueller (Jan 11, 2004)

This thread might be of interest.

Frank


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