natural style substrate choices

[Owain4]

Hey guys, im picking up a 100-125gallon tank soon aswell as a 55gal. i've got the 55 planned for minnows and breeding, and in the 100-125 im going to have a couple yellow perch some big minnows, maybe a rock bass or two.im planning on both tanks having nice drift wood rocks and real plants.

my first tank was a 55gallon and i used river gravel and sand mixed as a substrate i was really happy about the way it looked. so im having a hard time deciding what to do for the next one.

1st idea: my first idea is to have a flourite clay on the bottum of the tank, then some organic soil, and the top layer to be the black moon sand (try to give it a natural feel, i dont like the idea of having soil being the top layer, i've never done it but im curious to how that would look.

2nd idea: flourite clay with organic soil.

3rd idea: flourite clay with organic soil and a top layer of sand

4th idea: Flourite clay with organic soil and a top layer of river rocks

i can always just take some sand/dirt out of the lake to use. i'd love to hear your guys feed back! any advice, suggestions!

 

[Itsadeepbluesea]

You may want to think twice about the soil. I've never personally done it but have heard its a real pain in the butt.

 

[reptileguy2727]

Unless you are going to have a high end planted tank no soil. And clay will only make a massive mess in the flow of the average aquarium.

 

[kzimmerman]

In all likely hood, the only plants that will survive the boisterousness of the yellow perch will be meatier plants like amazon swords, and vallisneria. They do not need to have the complex substrates your talking about. If you want to go with a densely planted tank, your gonna have to go with different fish. If I were you, I would just use sand, and put some plant sticks around the roots of the amazon swords. Much easier.

 

[Owain4]

well i was aiming for maybe a few giant hairgrass, short hair grass, and maybe a coontail or two. just straight sand substrate is what you guys would recommend???

 

[bjbass]

I have 3M color quartz and I really like it. It has been discontinued for a couple years, but it is great stuff.

 

[isde02]

I have 3M color quartz and I really like it. It has been discontinued for a couple years, but it is great stuff.

Thats nice and different haven't seen anyone use that color before I really like it.

 

[kzimmerman]

By coontail, I'm assuming you mean foxtail, myriphilium sp. I beleive? I've tried this species several times, and it never seems to do well, maybe it's the species we have around here, or what, I don't know. The hairgrass is going to be hard to keep rooted, I would suggest planting a month or so ahead of stocking to allow for root growth. What kind of lighting are you gonna have on this beastie?

 

[Owain4]

i have a 24" T5HO i believe its a 32watt for the 55gallon im planning (the length will do ill just hang it above) i plan on getting another T5HO for the 125. ill have to double check, sorry Kzimmer, i meant hornwort, just another name for it around here, i might get some because it looks very natural lake bed wise. isde02 that tank looks very amazing. i want something that doesnt distract you, like one solid colour (i have a mixture and its quite an eye sore, little pebbles mixed with sand) i was thinking maybe just black or a dark dark brown like you have, even tan but im having a real hard time choosing which colour. i just want it too look natural and show the fishes colours well against it.

 

[kzimmerman]

You want black then. It looks relatively natural, more so if you've ever seen the bottom of most lakes, and it displays the color of the fish the best. Hornwort doesn't root, it works best as a floating plant. It actually sinks to the bottom, but it doesn't root, at least the version we have around here doesn't. Maybe we just have messed up plants. At any rate, it doesn't need the fancy planted tank substrates. 32 watts of ho lighting will limit you to plant selection. My 55 planted tank, really just a few swordplants and some anarchis required two 4' ho bulbs to render the tank decently lit for plants. I beleive thats 110 watts or so. There are some other plants that would do well in lower lighting, like the anubias, javaferns and similar. I would think about getting another 24" HO lighting fixture for the 55, and then maybe check out some of the overdriven NO options for the 125.