Was just wondering if there r any plants that grow alright in sand and that African cichlids wont eat? Im just wondering cause im thinking of starting a Tang tank and would like to know if keeping plants with any of them is possible Im thinking of adding My brevis and soem Julies to a 55 gallon and anything else that can possibly go any info would help...also if I have gravel in there should I add sand on top or take the gravel out completely? Thanxs!
Echinodorus (swords) and valisneria are good for me.
But suprizingly, even if you will have nothing, the rift lake aquarium will still be very nice, if you will have enough stones.
Java fern seems to be the standard reply to this question.
Personally, I would like to hear what other plants have been found by hobbyists to be suitable.
With regards to a sand & gravel mix- very soon all of the sand will be at the bottom with the gravel on top!
I have large anubias doing well in my heavily stocked 77, java fern of coarse and some bolbitis also doing well
Java Fern, Hornwort and Vals here in the Mbuna tank.
Crypts, Java Ferns, Java moss, sag, and anubias 1705 and 'nana' in the Tanganyikan tanks here. Mind you, I keep mainly shellies for Tanganyikans, and while they bulldoze, they don't bother plants that are attached to rockwork or protected by a "cairn" of rocks in the sand.
Plants are not always used in an African tank, lots of people like plastic. The reason is cichlids tend to dig in the substrata to make a spawning site and to claim a territory in your tank, which they will defend. Plants may be eaten by your cichlids if they are not the right type or dug up and be damaged. That is why people tend to go with plastic. I like plants and have Java Fern and Dwarf Anubias in my tanks. It is generally recommended to put them in a pot (some already come in a plastic pot) or attach them to a rock or piece of wood. For the previously stated reasons, also you may want to remember cichlids need quite a bit of rocks, caves and passageways for your cichlids to hide and breed in. Often people use simple clay pots turned on their side or buried a little in the sand/gravel as a home for their cichlids. Hope this helps, Cheers..... Troy. :)
Java fern, Bolbitis heudelotii, Anubias barteri var. nana, and Anubias barteri var. barteri should do well with most Africans. As luck would have it, there will be many large bags of Anubias barteri for sale at the Giant Auction tomorrow. And a bit of A. nana as well. One attaches these plants to driftwood or rocks, so they shouldn't get dug up.
Regards,
I found an article. Maybe you will be interested:
http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/breeding/Gussie_PlantswAfricans.html
the thing in that article that conserned me was most africans don't like that much light, even when I simply put a new *1* powerglo in my tank, they didn't come out of the rockwork for 3 days!
About light.
It is a little bit strange. For Malawi lake I found the following info: visibility more then 20 meters (from other source "up to 70 feet"). Assuming this is Central Africa, there should be a lot of light.
I cannot say, that I use Metal Halides or Power Compacts, but I have a lot of light (even sunlight) and everybody seems happy, especialy when they have places to hide...