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Hello I am plannng on redoing my tanks and am wondering what works good for substrate that will not get dug up at will?

The only thing you can do to stop cichlids digging is to take the substrate out and have a bare bottom tank.

Some cichlids will rearrange their decor regardless of what/where it is.

Good luck

it's their nature...they dig pits in preparation for spawning...and they'll do it whether or not a mate is present. so yeah, no way to stop it.

What type of cichlid do you have? It depends on the fish and size. If you have a oscar or firemouth forget it. They will arrange the tank the way they want it, period. Angelfish hardly bother with the substrate. Rams will move what they can move with their mouths or fan about with their fins.

TTFN --->Ta-Ta-For-Now
Kelly ;o}

Well thanks for the responses, it's exactly as I thought but was hoping there would be some little trick out there.

Hi there,

I found your question a bit unusual, at least insofar as cichlids are concerned.

To deny cichlids the ability to dig up their substrate is to rob them of one of life's little pleasures, and goes against their natural behavior.

I have a two-inch white sand substrate in my tank, and my fish -- particularly the males -- just love to move it around, and dig out their mating pits.

I wouldn't have it any other way. They provide me with hours of pleasure.

Of course, some cichlids -- like discus and angels, for example -- don't care either way, because they spawn on flat rocks, or even on the glass panes; but for mbunas, sand is the way to go.

i love watching my lemon cichlids
Neolamprologus leleupi
The Tanganyikan Lemon Cichlid
dig and move the sand in tank