ronrca Posted November 3, 2005 Report Share Posted November 3, 2005 (edited) Ive been doing some crash research on african cichlids and have decided to renovate my 90G planted into a cichlid tank. After reading and seeing threads regarding setups, Im going for a dark look similar to Molinos 125G setup but using black sand. First thing is to find black sand. I can buy CariSea T. Moon sand for around $20 online (plus another $15-20 for shipping) for 20lbs. Hmmmm! Could become expensive and my wife will not tolerate spending much money on this reno. I need around 50lbs of sand btw. So searching for a black sand like substrate. Sweet! Look what I found: http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtop...er=asc&&start=0 So attempting to find a 3M distributor here in Alberta. Anyone know one off hand perhaps? Edited November 3, 2005 by ronrca Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seajays Posted November 3, 2005 Report Share Posted November 3, 2005 There is a black sandblasting sand called " Cooper Slag" $12.85 for 88lbs at SIL Industries in Edmonton. I don't know if this would work, you would have to do some checking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronrca Posted November 3, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2005 Thanks Wow! Almost dirt cheap. But copper slag? Would that not leach copper into the water? Its almost the same stuff as: http://www.targetproducts.com/catalog/spec.../ultrablast.pdf Anyone use slag? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seajays Posted November 3, 2005 Report Share Posted November 3, 2005 Like I said, I don't know. More checking and testing needed. They also have some nice white sand called Granusal ( spelling) $11.00 for 100lbs. I have it in my tank and is nice and white. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronrca Posted November 3, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2005 (edited) Appreciate it! Did a search on cichlidforum and could not find any 'hard' facts that this slag will leach into the water to harm fish. Matter of fact, there are a few ppl that have been using it for awhile. My first choice will be 3m colorquartz but if I cant find a distributor in Alberta with a decent price, slag will be the next choice. Will Sil sell to individuals btw? And another quick question. My favorite and first choice of cichlids are the Pseudotropheus saulosi. Are they hard to get? Do they dig in the sand? My next favorites are: -Aulonocara stuartgranti -Otopharynx lithobates (Zimbawe) -Aulonocara baenschi Any experiences/thoughts on setting a species only tank with the above Thanks Edited November 3, 2005 by ronrca Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seajays Posted November 3, 2005 Report Share Posted November 3, 2005 Yes they sell to the public. I got my sand from them. Great price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishBrain Posted November 3, 2005 Report Share Posted November 3, 2005 Any experiences/thoughts on setting a species only tank with the above Careful with peacocks. They will mix breed if given the chance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted November 3, 2005 Report Share Posted November 3, 2005 P. salousi are not too hard to find - try placing a post in the Buy,Sell,Trade section asking if anyone has some to sell. They'll dig, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted November 4, 2005 Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 And another quick question. My favorite and first choice of cichlids are the Pseudotropheus saulosi. Are they hard to get? Do they dig in the sand? P. salousi are not too hard to find Try asking Nevchewy about how hard it is to find some saulosi Big al's brings them in sometimes. It seems like its easier to find them in calgary then edmonton. Nevin had to get some shipped up from Kyle cause he couldnt' find any. But yes they do dig in the sand, most all mbuna and haps/peacocks do. So if the copper slag is very sharp it might cause problems. Good luck on your search. Let us know if you find anything good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piranha Man Posted November 4, 2005 Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 ThanksWow! Almost dirt cheap. But copper slag? Would that not leach copper into the water? Its almost the same stuff as: http://www.targetproducts.com/catalog/spec.../ultrablast.pdf Anyone use slag? Yes it will leach. There is a guy online who tested it and it did leach. Black Beauty is the origional product, slag black sand. As for Moon sand big al's has it as well as all petsmarts for $30. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronrca Posted November 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 (edited) Thanks for the replies. I guess slag is out then. :grr: I hope I can find a 3M distributor then. If not, back to white sand then. I'll also check to see which cichlids species others have with the slag. Perhaps its alright though Im a little concerned about the leaching. I wonder if lessens over time. Big Al's has some? Hmmm! Id rather pass perhaps. Im not fond of lfs stock usually unless its DADs. Usually are second, third, fourth, etc grade plus who knows what else Im getting (disease). When the time comes, I'll be actively looking. I'll first get the renos done and the tank cycled. Id rather start with a new bio just in case. Im looking around Christmas holidays to do the actually swap. Edited November 4, 2005 by ronrca Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nevchewy Posted November 4, 2005 Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 P. salousi are not too hard to find I had looked for them for over a year and just now i just got a tank full of them. I had to ship the saulosi's from winnipeg when i bought James Ford's breeding stock. Big al's had some (i was just there 2 days ago) but they don't have any more. Plus the price at big al's was 16.99 per fish. The reason i didn't buy more than one, was i could only find one fish that had matching stripes (5 on each side). they weren't worth spending the money on. The only place to find saulosi right now is Gold's in calgary. Albert was nice enough to hold some for me. The males have matching 5 stripes, but they haven't fully turned blue for me to tell the quality. I'm not sure how many they have left though... Finally... I got an F1 pair from Kyle (african_fever) almost 8 months from when he said he would sell them to me. These are the best quality saulosi that i have ever seen on the net and in any books or magazines. Kyle brought them home with him when he was in africa during his internship. When i did reseach on saulosi, it was said they are the most popular Mbuna out there. I would have thought they would be found everywhere... but that was not the case. If you find some... Please let me know! I would like to get more females that are ready to breed to have fry for anyone that is looking for them. once my F1 male starts breeding i will have the best saulosi stock available, and then i can change my avatar to "saulosi King" and not just "in training". oh... they do dig, and males can be very aggressive against every other mbuna that i have kept with it. the F1 male that i got from winnipeg kicked the crap out of my male red Zebra. nev Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronrca Posted November 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 Thanks Nev for the info. Have any idea perhaps when your fish will be breeding? Most likely I will not be ready until the new year anyways. Besides, I d rather wait for yours to breed rather than buying substandard from lfs. Initially, I will be going with a P.saulosi tank only. Well, my search for black sand has ended. Looks like I will be going with white sand instead. :grr: I called 3M and they only have 2 distributors that sell the colorquartz north of the 49th Parellel. One in eastern Canada (Toronto) and the other in Quebec (is that still Canada? ). By the time I would get it shipped out here, I may as well buy black sand at the lfs. No thanks since I can buy 100lbs for $11 (Thanks seajays). A little disappointed but when looking at the african lake pics, I see white sand anyways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted November 4, 2005 Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 Ron - there's no need to use 'white' sand. Many companies sell pool filter sand that is very natural looking. (just like the stuff you see on the beach) Target brand PFS is about as natural as it gets, and it's very clean, and very uniform in grain size. It tends to look lighter when under fl lights, but it's certainly not white. There is no white sand in Lake Malawi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronrca Posted November 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 Thanks Neil! Are you using Targets sand? I'll come see it then next weekend. Much easier to convince my wife to revo my tank when only spending under $20 for the decor rather than $90. :thumbs: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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