# More info needed about cupid cichlids please



## cichlidluvr82 (Oct 7, 2017)

Hello everyone. I just got my cupid cichlid from liveaquaria yesterday. He's much bigger than they said, but he's a cutie and I swear he's the nicest cichlid I've ever owned /encountered. I have him in a 45 gallon community tank, but I'm going to be upgrading to a 4 foot long 55 gallon soon. I've got smooth gravel for substrate, lots of driftwood, moss balls, and live Anubias plants. I've also got very tall silk plants, floating plants, a cave and a cichlid stone. When I upgrade to the new tank I'll be putting in a large fake driftwood ornament that has several crevices and places to hide in/under. I'm also going to be adding more caves and cichlid stones. My concern is weather or not my set up will be ok for him? I know they say that a lot of cichlid species need sand, but is it really that important? If I don't switch to sand, will that stress him out and shorten his lifespan? My other concern is if he'll get stressed out being the only cupid cichlid in the tank??? I do have two keyhole cichlids but they are babies and very small. I would love to get another cupid cichlid for him, but I'm afraid I'll end up with a mated pair who will turn into psychopathic killers while breeding. If anyone has knowledge about this species from experience, please, please reply.


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## Bd79 (Apr 11, 2011)

I don't know how it will reaction to gravel. I think having two cupids isn't likely to result in psychopathic killers, mostly because it's not easy to get Biotodoma cupido to spawn. You might look at this old thread:

viewtopic.php?f=50&t=276681


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## Ichthys (Apr 21, 2016)

No fish NEED sand, some just prefer it.


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

I have to disagree, some fish are specifically suited for sand substrate, like geophagus and many other cichlid species. If your fish comes from an area with a sandy substrate then that's the type of environment to be provided for it. Some fish can and will injure themselves on gravel and too coarse of a substrate if they try to dig or sift these particles through their gills. So yes, some fish do need sand substrates in order to have a proper habitat.


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## cichlidluvr82 (Oct 7, 2017)

I'm looking into getting him a friend. Would it be ok if I put in some sand over a portion of my smooth gravel? My gravel is smooth and too large for my fish to swallow. I've got rainbows, cories, peacock gudgeons, platies and gouramis in my tank. I worry that the platies will eat and choke on the sand. If I do get sand, I don't know what color to get. I don't want white cause then you can see all the poop sitting on top. But if I get black it will be too hard to see the poop.


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## cichlidluvr82 (Oct 7, 2017)

As far as air pockets, do I just rake the sand every week my my hand or another object?


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## cichlidluvr82 (Oct 7, 2017)

I've decided I'm going to switch to Caribsea freshwater peace river gravel. It is very small and my cupid cichlid can suck it up and spit it out. It's also small enough to where the fish waste and uneaten food cannot get down in between it like normal size gravel. And hopefully none of my other fish will try to eat it. I'm probably going to get him another cupid friend.


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## joselepiu (Jul 22, 2017)

cichlidluvr82 said:


> I don't want white cause then you can see all the poop sitting on top. But if I get black it will be too hard to see the poop.


would it not rather see it so you can syphon it out? :-? :-? :-?


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## cichlidluvr82 (Oct 7, 2017)

True but I don't want a tank with substrate that you can see tons of poop everywhere. I already ordered the caribsea freshwater grain size gravel.


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## joselepiu (Jul 22, 2017)

:thumb: :thumb: :thumb: then...


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