# gravel substrate for peacocks: risk of injury?



## reepicheep (Sep 9, 2012)

Since I am too obtuse to be able to handle a sandy substrate, I opted for gravel substrate while setting up my hap/peacock tank. Now I occassionally observe my peacocks darting toward the substrate and then scraping at the bottom gravels. I read on this forum that in the wild peacocks do this in order to stir up the sand to hunt for food. They will then sift the fine sand through their gills. So my question is whether the peacocks are likely to get injured by performing food hunt on a gravel substrate?


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

Depends on the gravel and if it is smooth or rough. I would not have used gravel in a malawi tank especially with peacocks. They are big time sand sifters and it is in their nature to sift through sand.


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## reepicheep (Sep 9, 2012)

I tried with sand but with no luck--no matter how many times I washed the sand the tank water is still murky.  Instead I just got some commercial gravel substrate available at chain pet stores. The grravel does not seem to have sharp edges as far as I can tell, though.


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

reepicheep said:


> I tried with sand but with no luck--no matter how many times I washed the sand the tank water is still murky.  Instead I just got some commercial gravel substrate available at chain pet stores. The grravel does not seem to have sharp edges as far as I can tell, though.


You have to rinse it a lot AND make sure to use a small bowl with the refill hose so it doesn't stir the sand. I would try it again but understand your uneasiness.


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## Opulent (Jan 20, 2012)

I'd definitely agree with what razorback says about cleaning the sand - you have to clean it thoroughly, and when you think it's clean, you have to clean it some more!

I bought standard silica sand from my LFS and I spent about 15 minutes constantly stirring and rinsing, then re-rinsing for every 2.5kg of sand. Yes, to do enough for a 55g it took a couple of hours hard labour!! I carefully put the sand in by using a small beaker letting it flood with water and gently pouring the sand at the bottom of the tank, but even then the water was a little cloudy for a few hours, but it all cleared after that.

As for the fish, as razorback said, your Cichlids will be much more at home having sand as a substrate - it's just more natural for them and it's really nice to see them doing what comes naturally to them.

If you can set your mind to committing to spending the time and effort to clean the sand, you'll realise it was worth it. Your fish will be happier, your tank will look better, and it's easier to clean as less debris gets trapped like it does with gravel.


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## reepicheep (Sep 9, 2012)

Thank you both for the advice! I remeber spending about 2 hours rinsing sand for my 75g tank and ended up with a tank of water that was opaque at best  but now watching my juvenile peacoks trying in vain to sift the gravel substrate I indeed regret for not being committed enough before. Setting the time and effort and time of swtiching to sand substrate aside, I currently do not have the space to set up another tank for temporarily housing the fish while I change the substrate.  I am also concerned that such transition will cause the fish more stress. It seems that I can only pray the fish do not get injured through scraping at the gravel and meanwhile be prepared to set up a new home for them as soon as I can afford to do so.  While reading about a thread discussing the 7 deadly sins in fishkeeping on this forum I felt I must have become a sinner by skipping sand rinsing. :x


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

What I did was rinse about 25% at a time. I rinsed for hours. I have for years used this next little trick which is once the sand rocks are back in the EMPTY tank take a ceramic bowl and put on the sand. Then fill the tank with the hose VERY slowly with the end of the hose in the bowl so that the water slowly fills the bowl and runs over. You want to fill the tank this way very slowly as not to disturb the sand causing the tank to cloud. I found no matter how much I rinsed the tank would still cloud a bit at first then always settle down after a week or so as the filters trap the small particles clouding the tank. Also...as the fish sift they will clean the sand. They will sift a bit at a time giving the filters a chance to filter it out slowly over time. After a while you can stir the sand all you want and the water will remain crystal clear.

I can tell it is bothering you a bit so I would recommend going ahead and doing like I mention above. The sooner the better.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

The peacocks are not going to sift the gravel, so that should be OK but you will not see this behavior. Did you say they are diving into the gravel? Almost sounds like a skin irritation?


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## IanR29 (Dec 13, 2012)

Wouldnt the Peacocks also be Flashing if they are darting to the gravel and rubbing their sides? Their darting may also be something to do with something in the water they don't like.


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## reepicheep (Sep 9, 2012)

They indeed dart at the gravel and rub their sides against the gravel. I am also wondering about the possibility of disease outbreak since I have seen some really tiny while spot appearing on the forehead of some of them. I read a little on the health block on this forum and suspected it might be ich, so I turned up the tank water temperature to 84 F last night. The water parameters seem to be good but since I have been adding aquarium salt to raise both the pH and the hardness of the water so I am not sure if this is what the fish dislike?


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

reepicheep said:


> They indeed dart at the gravel and rub their sides against the gravel. I am also wondering about the possibility of disease outbreak since I have seen some really tiny while spot appearing on the forehead of some of them. I read a little on the health block on this forum and suspected it might be ich, so I turned up the tank water temperature to 84 F last night. The water parameters seem to be good but since I have been adding aquarium salt to raise both the pH and the hardness of the water so I am not sure if this is what the fish dislike?


Your temp needs to be a minimum of 86 if you are treating for Ich. 84 will simply speed the life cycle but will not curtail reproduction. If you can get to 89 that is better. It will kill Ich in its free swimming stage as soon as it falls off the fish.


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## brinkles (Jan 30, 2011)

If you're adding buffer to raise the hardness, you're probably correct that they're irritated. Fish hate change. What is the kH of the tap water?

Back in the old days we used undergravel filters, and the fish were fine with gravel substrate. Gravel was a maintenance headache, the fish sift/dig in sand, and sand looks natural, so that's why we got away from gravel. I'd change to sand just for cleanliness alone.


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## reepicheep (Sep 9, 2012)

Thank you so much everyone! The temperature of my tank water is now 89 F and except for one of them I no longer see white spots on the fish. I also purchased medication said to be capable of quick cure of ich after reading product reviews on this forum. I am wondering if applying medication is recommended at this point or perhaps something as mild as Melafix would alone suffice?

Meanwhile the fish seem to have ceased flashing as well but I am still concerned that adding buffer might not be a good idea after all, especially during big water changes this means that the fish have to endure drastically pH fluctuations. The pH of my tap water is 7.4 and GH 140ppm--not parameters with which peacocks are most vibrant, right?


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

reepicheep said:


> Thank you so much everyone! The temperature of my tank water is now 89 F and except for one of them I no longer see white spots on the fish. I also purchased medication said to be capable of quick cure of ich after reading product reviews on this forum. I am wondering if applying medication is recommended at this point or perhaps something as mild as Melafix would alone suffice?
> 
> Meanwhile the fish seem to have ceased flashing as well but I am still concerned that adding buffer might not be a good idea after all, especially during big water changes this means that the fish have to endure drastically pH fluctuations. The pH of my tap water is 7.4 and GH 140ppm--not parameters with which peacocks are most vibrant, right?


DO NOT add meds to a tank with temp that high. The heat would suffice. No need to medicate. Only medicate in extreme cases where the Ich is causing deaths. Just leave the temp at 89 for 5-7 days after you last see the Ich on the fish. Feed the fish sparingly and make sure the water is very well oxygenated through surface agitation. l would do 25% daily water changes being sure to vacuum the bottom of the tank. After a week turn the heat down slowly over 24hrs. Then do a large water change.

As for the pH you are fine. Don't mess with it. The peacocks will show good colors. Stability, quality foods and health are the requirements for good color.


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