what is a good substrate? [Archive] - MonsterFishKeepers.com

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yonk420

09-16-2005, 2:24 PM

I am thinking of doing a planted tank but I have no idea what I should use for a substrate. Iheard of people using gravel but I do not know if that is a good choice or not. Any helpful info would be greatly appreciated. :headbang2

aniki

09-19-2005, 2:55 AM

For best results use Eco-Complete and/or Flourite as your base substrate. You can use them as-is or just as a base and have either sand or gravel as your top substrate.

Miles

09-20-2005, 1:40 AM

I like Florabase because it makes your water softer, and buffers your pH. Has similiar effects to driftwood, but dosn't turn the water tea-colored.

Miles

09-20-2005, 1:40 AM

Infact, I will use a base layer of Flourite or Ecocomplete, then cover that with Florabase, then cover that with a thin layer of gravel.

aniki

09-20-2005, 3:14 AM

Or you can always fork out a little more money and get ADA substrate. Expensive, but worth every penny. :thumbsup:

HarleyK

09-20-2005, 5:28 PM

Howdy,

I use sand from the Home Depot and laterite mixed into the bottom layer. 110 oz laterite for a 220 gal tank. This is a new tank, but I used it before successfully in 10, 20, and 80 gal planted tanks. Don't forget to add some liquid fertilizer on a regular basis later on. Also, pay special attention to your lighting!!!!!!!

Happy plantgrowing,

HarleyK

HarleyK

09-20-2005, 5:33 PM

Or you can always fork out a little more money and get ADA substrate. Expensive, but worth every penny. :thumbsup:

Howdy,

FWIW: I had great problems with the ADA substrate. I still doubt that these problems were caused by my Dupla substrate fertilizer, but I have to mention it at this point for the records. I had blue algae (lots!!!), then thread algae, the tank never really equilibrated in an entire year. Then I threw the crap out and got sand. Also, the water chemistry is off for the first weeks due to the ion exchange properties (follow the kH & gH closely). And if you have bottom dwellers, they will tear out your plants since the substrate is not any heavier than peat moss. I for my part have never seen corys in Amano's tanks .... must be for a reason.

HarleyK

aniki

09-21-2005, 2:16 AM

Monster VooDoo Fish

09-21-2005, 10:12 AM

You can use gravel, two cheap AGA 40w light strips and some low light plants like
anubias plants. With some flourish plant food and flourish excell.

Or you can go extreme with a better substrate like seachem flourite and some PC lights maybe some co2.. and lots of product..

HarleyK

09-21-2005, 10:28 AM

I'm sorry to hear that you had problems with ADA substrate. I have had great success with ADA and keep about a half dozen corys along with 5 diff. species of shirmp on the bottom and never had problems. I guess it just isn't for everybody.

Howdy,

That is interesting. Did you use a substrate fertilizer? Regular fertilizer? Do you have a CO2 hooked up? What size tank, what filter, what is your tap water hardness, and - not that it really matters - do you have the "Amazon" substrate, or another one? I also had shrimp, Caridina japonica, about 15 in an 80 gal tank.

Thanks,
HarleyK

on edit (and most importantly): What plants do you keep? I had glossostigma elatinoides, which got uprooted a lot. Bigger plants like Echinodorus or Cryptocorynen did fine. But you don't need the ADA substrate to keep them happy.

Culinaria

10-09-2005, 6:53 PM

I've used about every plant substrate on the market. I love florabase but found that if I had any diggers it always got kicked up in the water column. Most of my planted tanks with CO2 injection have seachems onxy sand on the bottom for KH reasons ( our water is around 1 dkh coming from the tap out here). covered by flourite and topped with eco-complete. Carib Sea has a new soil out ( they make eco-complete) that has almost the same chemical make up as eco- complete, but is a fine black sand. Kahuna potting soil is the name I think. I used it in one tank and found that it need to be covered with a heavier top layer, but I can't wait to see how it preforms. I have it mixed with frourite and tahian moon sand.

pigblanket

10-16-2005, 2:04 AM

I have good success with a substrate called black onyx.

Tucc185

10-20-2005, 1:57 PM

Personally, I love Estes #1 natural gravel, it just looks so good, and really keeps plants in the substrate. For my more serious plant tanks, I had a layer of florabase under a 1" layer of #1 gravel mixed with laterite (2 parts gravel 1 part laterite). Corys and bottomdwellers can root naturally, but plants stay secure, even with fish like Geophagus species.

tom h

10-21-2005, 1:47 AM

i've allways used gravel, but insted of mixing laterite into the bottom layer, i make a clay out of it then bake it off and just burry the balls near the plant roots. i've never had a problem with my cories (12 of them) digging it up just when i get too close to it with the gravel vac. rule of thumb is about 3" gravel depth for planted tanks. is it the same with sand? i'm going to use sand as the substrate in the next tank a set up.

HarleyK

10-21-2005, 10:26 AM

i've allways used gravel, but insted of mixing laterite into the bottom layer, i make a clay out of it then bake it off and just burry the balls near the plant roots.

That works fine if you want to restrain plants to major spots. If you, however, hope to get e.g. cryptocorynen covering larger areas of your tank by naturally spreading out, or if you want to change the set-up somewhere down the road, a base layer of fertilized substrate is of great advantage.

HarleyK

LeGrandB@t

10-27-2005, 6:50 PM

Anyone here ever try using a layer of topsoil under the gravel/sand?
I've been reading about it and looking at pics and I think I'm gonna try it.
I've used flourite and laterite with good results but the cost :WHOA:
I let you all know how it goes.
Heres some links:

http://endlersr.us/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=13&mode=&order=0&thold=0

http://dataguru.org/misc/aquarium/125tank.html

HarleyK

10-27-2005, 7:53 PM

I don't know, man. regular top soil can be pretty high in nitrates and/or phosphates. Looks like the tank on the website you link has just been set up. Give it some time, and it could develop a lot of algae. Also, you never know about heavy metal contaminations of that top soil. It's just something that could cause trouble. And if it does, it means empty out the entire tank and start over. That's too much risk for me.

I got my laterite here:

http://www.petblvd.com/cgi-bin/pb/APH05578.html

Two 55 oz packs for my 220 gal, and the plants seem to love it
HarleyK

sohfatfish

10-28-2005, 12:13 AM

Ive been using topsoil under a thick layer of sand and its working great for most plants. The only problems i had were with toninas and hair grass. Just make sure that the topsoil doesnt contain too much compost. The best way would be to get them in sealed bags from the florist and just separate out the stones from there, easier than taking out dead bits of leaves and twigs. Also try to have a thicker layer of sand above it like maybe 2 inches to prevent too much leakage of excess nutrients.

orlok

11-02-2005, 10:02 PM