# cichlids with plants and sand.



## Fjackson (Sep 17, 2008)

What kind of african cichlids are safe to keep in a tank with live plants and sand as a substrate?


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

Haps, peacocks, most tanganyikans, Kribs, Discus Apistos, Rams, etc. 
It's actually a shorter list that don't work well with plants... severums, mbuna, most CA cichlids, etc.

Could you refine your question by letting us know what type of cichlid? I'm assuming African since this is the General African, but an idea of riverine, Malawi, Tang or other would help me answer.

:thumb:


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## Matts_Cichlids (Jul 29, 2007)

Plants do root well into sand but I didnt bother with real plants in my tanks as I have some Johanni, Aurautus and some yellow labs just to name a few that like to dig and shift sand.


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## Fjackson (Sep 17, 2008)

Malawi and Tang are what Im looking on getting.


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

Fjackson said:


> Malawi and Tang are what Im looking on getting.


Which specifically are you looking at keeping? How big and what are the dimensions of the tank(s)?


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## Guest (Sep 28, 2008)

I found that anubias are nearly indestructable (never tested it with mbuna though or new world cichlids), and that apongeton boivinanus is not bothered by haps and peacocks.

What I did was with the anubias I either anchored it on driftwood, attached it to lace rock, or I just attached a lead weight to it and have it sit on top of the sand (as long as you keep up water changes, the lead shouldn't pose any danger to you or the fish. I'm not sure if it even dissolves, but if it does it dissolves super slow).

With the apongeton boivinanus, I just wedged it between two rocks.


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

With Tanganyikans, the list of fish that are not safe with plants is shorter than the list of those that are... by a mile too.

For Malawi, the real quick answer is that Haps and Peacocks are fine, mbuna are generally not good.

For specific fish recommendations, I suggest answering Fogelhund's questions as well as a couple of my own... tank size, water parameters, type of sand, lighting, CO2?


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## Fjackson (Sep 17, 2008)

i have a 55gal aquarium, the sand I got from home depot its like play sand, I have two 18inch 15 watt Nutri Grow flourescent plant lamps, what do you mean by C02?


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## Matts_Cichlids (Jul 29, 2007)

Fjackson said:


> what do you mean by C02?


Co2 = carbon dioxide

I dont know anything about aquarium plants so someone else will explain what this means in more detail.


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

Fjackson said:


> i have a 55gal aquarium, the sand I got from home depot its like play sand, I have two 18inch 15 watt Nutri Grow flourescent plant lamps, what do you mean by C02?


You may want to consider some authentic looking silk plants... planted tanks are tons of fun, but you do need to know the basics or else you're just going to waste money buying plants that will die...

if you do want to try your hand at live plants, then you need to do a ton of reading about aquatic plants. Might I suggest starting with the articles at www.plantedtank.net


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## klumsyninja (Aug 14, 2008)

Number6 said:


> Might I suggest starting with the articles at www.plantedtank.net


X2

Excellent forum, full of amazing planted tank info!

I too want to start a planted cichlid tank, I'll be following this thread.


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

klumsyninja said:


> I too want to start a planted cichlid tank, I'll be following this thread.


If you've read the basics, then your next step is deciding whether you want a simple low light setup or if you want to try your hand at a high light attempt.

You can then pick plants and cichlids to match what you'd like.

E.g. For those who want sandy substrates and need to stop peacocks mixing sand and planting media:

Equipment: 55g tank, stand, wood canopy, 1x 96W CF kit from ahsupply.com
pillow stuffing, small bag of fluorite, play sand, couple limstone rocks, needle and black thread, .

Plants
Crypts and/or Vals and Anubias

Fish: 
6 Aulonocara baenschi

Take fluorite and place onto a circle of pillow stuffing. Run needle and thread around outside of circle and draw tight to make a bowl shape out of pillow stuffing. You now have a breathable plant "pot" to shove crypts or vals into. 
Bury into sand making sure to push the sand up and over the edges of the "pot" to hide it well. Plant will grow out and even through the pot yet it makes for a great way to move the crypts later on! 

add rocks into piles and aubias onto rocks (hold down with thread to let the anubias grow into the rock!)

Secondary benefit... rock piles make awesome retreats for spit fry to grow out a bit for sale!

Hope that helps! :thumb:


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