I have my tank setup with about half gravel half sand, and after a while the sand begins to sift down to the bottom. So i have to try to mix it up a little every now and then without disturbing my plants. Im probably gonna get rid of the gravel altogether, as i prefer just sand. I think your best bet would be to move the gravel out of certain areas and put just sand down there, otherwise it'll sift down below the gravel. just my humble opinion.
Steve
Adam G <apisto99@hotmail.com> wrote:
Hi everyone,
I'm very interested in trying to provide as many elements of a natural
habitat as possible for my apistos. After reading a few old threads on
excavating behavior, I realized that my females are often trying to do just
that. I currently have a gravel substrate - small gravel of varying sizes.
I was curious what my females were up to when they were inside of their
flower pots, so I set up what my wife likes to call Living Room National
Geographic. I cut a flower pot in half, and I cut a small hole at the top.
I put the large opening of the pot against the glass of the aquarium, so
that a female could swim in through the little hole and no one else could
get in through the larger opening. Once inside she couldn't see or be seen
by the other fish, and if I stood at an angle, she couldn't see me. She
would go inside the pot, and float at the typical and beautiful 45 degree
angle with dorsal and ventral fins displayed. She would then proceed to
attack (at least that's what it looked like to me) the gravel. It's now
clear to me that she was trying to dig!
I'm interested in laying down some sand to help make things more comfortable
for the apistos. Clearly, laying the entire tank with sand would be a messy
job. I'd like to try to introduce some sand under spawning caves, wood, and
rocks. Any tips on how to do this with a tank that's already settled? How
much sand should I lay down (an inch, half inch, less?) Finally, will it be
all for not - will the sand simply, over time, fall between the gravel and
sink to the bottom of the tank? Any ideas or experiences would be great to
hear about!
-Adam
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