cichlid substrate question

[statman]

I currently have a 120gal tank set up for plants and tropical fish. Im wanting to convert this over to a cichlid tank fairly soon. Right now for substrate I have about 8 bags of EcoComplete in there that cost me an arm and a leg each. Id really rather not have to throw all this out... Question is: Will this be a suitable substrate for cichlids?

Thanks

 

[jobeak]

I dont know what eco complete is but I know that Cichlids prefer a sandy substrate. The sift through the sand, taking it in their mouths and extract food from the granuals before spitting it out again. Sand is usually the recommended substrate for them.

Jobeak

 

[Cichlid-Man]

Yes it can work. What kind of cichlids are you planning on getting?

Another idea is to put a small layer of play sand on top for the cichlids to sift. Or if your plants are at the back of the tank, put a layer of sand just along the front swimming area.

 

[statman]

The plants are going bye bye basically, i just really didnt want to have to be out all the money I spent on this ecocomplete.

 

[Cichlid-Man]

You can use it yes, though i prefer something a little more finer for my cichlids. In my experiences ecocomplete seems to be a little rough.

 

[wayne]

Some it will and some it won't. There are several hundred species (no 1000's) of cichlids, from numerous different enviroments, and some like sand, some like mud, and some like rocks, leaf litter blah, blahblah.

What sort of cichlids? Discus, angels, or what? Convicts, africans?

 

[statman]

Africans more than likely, im just starting to plan it out and dont really have any idea of cichlids yet.

 

[FreddyJ]

I started my cichlid tank with aquarium gravel, not very fine. After reading that cichlids like sand, I removed about 1/3 of the gravel and replaced it with sand. The cichlids love sifting through it and I still get to have plants. I call the side of my tank with sand "The Beach" and it looks pretty neat.

 

[Igor The Cat]

im assuming that this is the eco-complete plant sub, not there cichlid sub. am i right?

cheers

-Java

 

[statman]

correct, its the plant stuff.