There are 2 routes i would suggest for you keeping in mind of Maintance and Stability with you ph for Mbuna..
You could use Silica Sand The Silica Sand at Home Depot in sequim.. Its right next to the costco. Hard to miss. You wont even use half of the green and brown 100lb bag.. Than i would go to Reef cleaners and pick up 50 pounds of their florida reef rock. I understand this route might be out of your price range but well worth the investment if you are serious in keeping mbuna or other high ph Rift lake fish.. They stack really easy and look great.. If you order let him know that you are wanting rock sized for the size tank you have.
OR
The cheaper route woulde be to use crushed coral as a substrate.. You can get crushed coral at Petco in Sequim and is right next door to Home depot. I think 2 20 pound bags would cover your tank and would run you about $40.. Or you could get away with one bag or crushed coral mixed in with a white silica sand.. Than you can use what eve nice rocks you have. River rock whatever.
Really the florida reef rock looks alot nicer tho. Small holes all threw the rock that fry will use and it provides all sorts of caves and is the lightest rock you can run in your tank for its size.. 3x lighter than river rock the same size.
You could use Silica Sand The Silica Sand at Home Depot in sequim.. Its right next to the costco. Hard to miss. You wont even use half of the green and brown 100lb bag.. Than i would go to Reef cleaners and pick up 50 pounds of their florida reef rock. I understand this route might be out of your price range but well worth the investment if you are serious in keeping mbuna or other high ph Rift lake fish.. They stack really easy and look great.. If you order let him know that you are wanting rock sized for the size tank you have.
OR
The cheaper route woulde be to use crushed coral as a substrate.. You can get crushed coral at Petco in Sequim and is right next door to Home depot. I think 2 20 pound bags would cover your tank and would run you about $40.. Or you could get away with one bag or crushed coral mixed in with a white silica sand.. Than you can use what eve nice rocks you have. River rock whatever.
Really the florida reef rock looks alot nicer tho. Small holes all threw the rock that fry will use and it provides all sorts of caves and is the lightest rock you can run in your tank for its size.. 3x lighter than river rock the same size.
I may be a little late to the party...
...but, I always heard using silica was bad for tanks. I know of people using pool filter sand from places like Home Depot. I've always used crushed coral/sugar grade in my tanks. And I not only want to point out that you can use driftwood, I would suggest it...it'll help you balance out the pH changes caused by the sand. Just make sure to soak it, if it's a new piece, for a long time to avoid the tannins changing your water yellow. Yellow water shouldn't affect the livestock, just not that pretty to look at.
2 cents, inserted!
(I wanted to add that silica isn't ideal if it's a fine grain, not because of a chemical issue. I've always been told it's "sharp" and should be avoided)
...but, I always heard using silica was bad for tanks. I know of people using pool filter sand from places like Home Depot. I've always used crushed coral/sugar grade in my tanks. And I not only want to point out that you can use driftwood, I would suggest it...it'll help you balance out the pH changes caused by the sand. Just make sure to soak it, if it's a new piece, for a long time to avoid the tannins changing your water yellow. Yellow water shouldn't affect the livestock, just not that pretty to look at.
2 cents, inserted!
(I wanted to add that silica isn't ideal if it's a fine grain, not because of a chemical issue. I've always been told it's "sharp" and should be avoided)
I would like to point out that you CAN but i WOULD NOT use driftwood in a MBUNA setup.
Silica Sand is inert and DOSENT affect your PH...
And if you had high ph why would you try to BALANCE the ph.. The whole point is to have a high ph.
There is nothing wrong with using Silica sand and it is inert so it wont affect your ph in any way..
Driftwood should be avoided with mbunas... One of the only ways you could get away with having some driftwood is if you have your tank loaded with crushed coral.. But having driftwood is only going to affect your Ph negatively.
And yes fine sand is not ideal cause it can get into your filters if you arent paying attention to what you are doing.. And the "sharpness" you are refering to is only going to affect bottomfeeders or fish with barbells which you are likely not going to have in a mbuna tank...
The only thing i can see you might have is one of the synodontis catfish species and even then fine silica sand isnt going to matter with them.
As much as it pains me, :violent: I would have to agree with Doza. 
!: JK
Sand, like playground sand, wouldn't advise it. I went with the silica sand and mixed with it the crushed coral. And NO wood. I have wood in my American Cich tanks, and though it looks real nice, I still float bags of coral in my filters just to keep the ph from dropping to low. So, in a Mbuna tank, NO WOOD. I also love loaches, and have several in my tanks w/silica sand. They love it, at least they are always burrowing in it. And my Poly's burrow in it also.
Hang in there Doza, your growing on me.
unk:
!: JKSand, like playground sand, wouldn't advise it. I went with the silica sand and mixed with it the crushed coral. And NO wood. I have wood in my American Cich tanks, and though it looks real nice, I still float bags of coral in my filters just to keep the ph from dropping to low. So, in a Mbuna tank, NO WOOD. I also love loaches, and have several in my tanks w/silica sand. They love it, at least they are always burrowing in it. And my Poly's burrow in it also.
Hang in there Doza, your growing on me.
unk:
aaronfeeney
Active Member
You guys got it ,,, NO WOOD ,,, I used crushed coral, aragonite, and white silica sand mixed for substrait, I also loaded one of the baskets in my Fluval canister with the aragonite, and decorated with stacks of rocks and dead coral.. ph stayed around 8.2 with out all the buffer addatives, I did like to use the african cichlid salts, to keep up the mineral content. The Mbuna also dig in the sand a lot, and you'll see them running it through their gills, I think I read somewhere, that they clean their gills with the rough, fine grain sand.
pull your intakes a good 6 inches off the substrate. if you are using Hang on back filters ur gonna wanna be cautious as sand getting stuck in the impeller can ruin the filter (doesnt happen often) just turn off the filter whenever ur messing around and stirring things up. wait maybe 20 minutes and then turn it all back on. its easy to deal with. on a side note the silica sand can lead to outbreaks of diatom algae (green carpeting stuff really nasty) just another thing to consider.
I have a source that can get any color sand you want. I use black in mine is clean almost like sugar or salt. Very fine, it does not leach into the water or anything. My tangs love it. I think he sells it for 50-60 cent a pound. The only issue I have is that it is black so all the poop shows up well.