# Black Tahitian Moon Sand, Gravel, and Mbunas



## hisplaceresort1 (Mar 10, 2014)

Hello everyone!

Need some advice and guidance from the hive mind...

Have not been able to get the 135 g on CL I was hoping for, so I settled for a temporary fix of a 75 g. (upgrading from a 29 g.)

Anyway, in the 29 g, I currently have quite a bit of gravel and petrified wood. I like it because every week when I change water/vaccuum, I can re-arrange things. I like to build up one side, or a corner with the gravel/river rock pebbles I have, bury the pieces of petrified wood and stack them to make caves, etc. I really like being able to go for asymmetrical looks.

My mbuna seem to like "hills & valleys" and even dig out the valleys more to enhance the effect.

but...

I want to add some black tahitian moon sand when I set up the 75 g. (I plan on taking everything from the 29 and putting it into the 75, filters and all substrate, rocks, etc.) But, I want to keep the gravel... I think I do...

My idea is to keep the gravel on one side of the tank, make some kind of barrier between the gravel and the sand with rocks(?), and have the sand on the other side, about 1.5" to 2" thick.

I know mbunas will pick up and spit sand, but I don't know if they'll carry it over a rock barrier to spit it. Not thrilled about getting sand in my canister filter impellers, either, but I think it would be a cool look... Or I could put the gravel in the middle, and sand on either end of the tank... I'm going for kind of a "post-apocalyptic" look... a ridge of rock sticking out of the ground (gravel) falling off into the blackness of the sand...

Does anyone have experience using sand and gravel together in an mbuna tank?

Does anyone have experience using the Black Tahitian Moon sand with mbunas? What happens if they eat it? It's not real sand, so... ???

Is the black Tahitian Moon sand more coarse or fine than (?)

Is this just a really bad idea? :-?

Thanks for your help...


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

The sand will sink below the gravel eventually. I wouldn't bother adding it and would prefer a complete swap to sand. If it were my tank that is.


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## anthraxx4200 (Aug 16, 2012)

mine dig sand and actively move it up to 18'' away. sometimes even accross the tank 6'. id do a complete swap, honestly sand looks 10x better then gravel anyways. plus the fish get to have fun with it.


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## miDnIghtEr20C (Aug 13, 2013)

I have "zack black" and that moon sand in my tank. but I didn't do it like how you want. In my 140 when I first set it up I had it like yours... sand on the left, and bigger gravel on the right. It worked ok. They did bring sand over but not to crazy. Give it a shot, and if it doesn't work out just mix it all anyways. Always worth trying for the heck of it in case it does work out.


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