African Cichlid Substrates Bio-Activ Live Cichlid Sand for Aquarium, 20-Pound, Natural Black

Easily the best substrate I've ever used for my Cichlids. This settled so quickly, I ordered an additional bag and carefully added it to the tank with the fish in the water. I know that is a big no-no in the aquarium world, but it worked out because this substrate is so easy to work with. Some of the reviews mentioned it took a while to settle after adding water. I did not have that issue at all. There is a small amount of water in the package with the substrate to keep the active bacteria alive so it was not in any way dusty and I no floating debris from it at all.

Great substrate. Has a very fine sandy consistency and you'll have to give it a night to settle. After that you're good to go.I used this for fishless cycling using pure ammonia from Ace Hardware and the tank was cycled and had my whole stock of fish in it in EXACTLY two weeks.Our tap water is around a 9.0+ and this coral keeps it at about a 7.8. Which is perfect for our yellow lab, red zebra and two upside down catfish.It was so perfect in fact, that the day we added them they tried to mate! (We were moving them from another tank and had already had them for a while.)

Not sure where exactly this stuff comes from...Its more like crushed rocks. But I'm still good with it. My only concern is that it seems to be very dirty. And by dirty I don't mean cloudy (Don't get me wrong it does cloud) but it seem to have a LOT of debris in it such as sticks and what seem to be paper...Put it in the tank with a small amount of water and drain that water off.

Excellent media!!! Our new 77 gal cichlid tank looks amazing.

Great stuff, helps establish your bio filter quicker, thereby, shortening the amount of time it takes to cycle ones tank. You mustn't rinse this stuff. I usually fill the tank about 1/4 of the way full and then add the whole bag before filling the rest of the way with water. It will be cloudy and dirty looking but don't worry - by the next day or at least 6 hours later, it should be clearing up nicely. If your tank already has water, use a cup and put it a cup full at a time. It is best to sink the cup all the way to the bottom before scattering it around. I also read that it is very important not to cover existing substrate with this one as you will be trapping toxins that could later resurface and kill your fish. It's easy, with each scoop, take your hand and gently blend it in to what you have already. Hope this helps!

Thanks

This is NOT sand. It is more like chipped gravel. This is a problem if you have anything that burrows in sand because it could easily cut them. This was a problem for me because I have eels which need soft sand to burrow in.