Alright. Here it goes. I have decided to convert my 40 g into a African Mbuna Tank, with sand substrate, rock decor, rock setup, the whole 9 yards... the only problem is that i am going from a blue clown-puke gravel subsrate to this, and i have not the slightest idea how to set up sand in a tank. ive heard it screws up filters, its dirty, you should get silica sand or pool filter sand, not play sand...... i just want some straight facts and help with setting this up, especially there are so many knowlegable African cichlid keepers on this site

Any info is GREATLY appreciated....
Few Questions i have, and please elaborate and give explanations, i really want to do this right!
-can i use ocean sand that has been boiled and cleaned?
-Driftwood?
-how to protect the filter?
-what type of sand?
-what africans?

once again, any info greatly appreciated....

I use 100% silica sand from home depot. Its white in color, looks good, pretty clean, heavy, and cheap as hell.

If you were to just throw the sand into the tank full of water, it will most likely ploom up and get sucked up by the filters.

When i put it on the tanks is empty. I put a bunch in a bucket and rinse and strain it for about 5 minutes per load [about 1/4 of a 5 gal bucket]. I then put it into the tank. I go about 1-1.5" you dont really want thicker because it can collect gas pockets. I then fill with water; let it sit for an hour or more. Then i stir up the bottom to get the air pockets out.

Since Mbuna are bigger fish they will probably stir up the sand more than the fish i have. Depending on the type of filter there are a couple options to protect them from sand. Realistically however its small enough to just go in and back out of the filter without any issue. I would just use pre filters on the ends.

You can use driftwood if you want. But Mbuna come from very rocky areas. Im sure theres some logs tossed in there. But in a Mbuna tank youre going to want a higher pH. Wood will fight against your efforts. If its smaller wood you may not even notice.

When i planned out Mbuna i literally just look at BlueGrassAquatics.com in the Malawi section. It helped me choose some that would work for me.

Since your tank is smallerish. I would personally try to get the least aggressive as possible.

also note.. im not an expert.

Dude go with crush coral mix with sand, this way you wont have to use any buffers for the water. also some mbunas like to dig so put your rocks in first and then the substrate so you wont have any accidents. make sure to only keep one species in the tank or else they will interbreed

this Africans are great, but pretty aggressive

pseudotropheus saulosi
pseudotropheus demasoni
Melanochromis auratus

BTW you posted this twice
whats that on purpose??

Any info is GREATLY appreciated....
Few Questions i have, and please elaborate and give explanations, i really want to do this right!
-can i use ocean sand that has been boiled and cleaned?
Probably could, but i'd stay away from it, loads of bad stuff that can be in there, just think of all the oil spills and boats out there..
-Driftwood?
Yes.. Lots of guys use it, just make sure you boil it to kill anything bad that might be in it..
-how to protect the filter?
You can buy foam to put over your intake tubes.
-what type of sand?
I bought some sand called "Lapis Luster C1" and love it, it's a heavier sand and doesn't get kicked up as bad as most other sand. I was cleaning sand out of my filters weekly before i switched to this stuff.
-what africans?
I'll let all the african guys answer this one.. Not a pro on africans at all..lol

Hope this helps a little..

When my haps started getting frisky the male was throwing sand all over the tank. Stopped my HOB filter, so definitely put a filter over the intake tube or it will grind up the impeller.

Lapis luster sand from Manufacturers Mineral Co. ( Address: 1215 Monster Rd. S.W. Renton, WA, 98055 #253-228-2120), sells it in 100lb bags for $17 or less. Use a foam cover on the filter intake. Since you only have a 40gal the 100lbs of sand is more than enough (but cant beat that price). Use about 30-40 lbs of sand and mix 15 lbs of crushed corral in with the sand.

Like others have said, Mbunas are beautiful fish, but are very aggressive and love to dig. Like non stop digging.

My son has two tanks, one has peacocks, the other is a community. A couple Paralabidochromis, yellow blaze, a couple astatotilapia, Neolamprologus, 'Lamprologus' (shellies), calvas, compressisep, clown loaches, and a couple bristle nose plecos.

Just research your fish thoroughly before you buy. And like Kaie said, no on the drift wood. The wood wants to lower the ph, you want it high for the Africans. Decorate with rock and corral pieces. I have both that I could sell you for a good price.

would like to get play sand, but im not sure if i should. the local harware store has blasting and play, but to order silica (cause they dont normally carry it), it goin to be almost 2$ lb...little past m budget. is play sand bad, or to diffecult to work with?

Did you read my post to this question. Its right above your last one.

Play sand, no not really. Just my opinion.

Manufacturers Mineral Co. ( Address: 1215 Monster Rd. S.W. Renton, WA, 98055 #253-228-2120) has all types of aquarium substrate. The sand I bought was 100lbs for $17, THATS 17cents /lb. If your not going to read our suggestions, stop asking the same questions.

To be fair. He is 16 and lives in pt Townsend.

I bought my sand from home depot, its just arena sand so it has that bonus of being different colors and sizes. Atleast a bonus for me. it ran me like 5$ for 60lbs. Not sure if there is a home depot in pt. townsend have not been there in a long time. but almost all sands will work. Play sand, Arena Sand, Silica Sand, as long as it is not cement sand or anything but a form of sand, you will be fine. Various types also depend on how much time in cleaning you will do. Like my arena sand it took a bit to clean, and it was still dirty for about 2 days but my tank is cleaner and easier to clean.

"the local harware store has blasting and play,"

tell me more about the blasting sand they have - what does it say on the bag?

The silica sand they have at home depot is sold as sandblasting sand - maybe yours is the same stuff and you just don't know it. Any way you can snap a pic of the bag - maybe we could let you know.

BTW folks, I agree about being kind. Not everyone drives/has a car, and not everyone lives within easy access of a home depot/lowes. Let's try to be helpful here, and help the member pick the best from their available options - which may be different from your available options. Just saying.

its alright, i kinda did repeat what i asked... :l port townsend is liike the san juans- there are no big corps like home depot because everyone here is agaisnt them. the city wont allow them. Sequim might have one.... ill see if i can get some pics up. the computers finicky...

hey jack...i have also seen it carried at lumbermans or one of those type that same bag but it was like 12.99 a bag though
if you ever make it down this way you can have some of mine i have lots extra due to a tear down of a tank

i doubt it- my parents are.....sedentary. and i dont have a car yet.... i heard you can lesson the sand uptake and messyness by covering the sand with a layer of largish pebbles....would that work?