They are not the same. I'd stick to the laterite, it requires very little in a tank to supply enough nutrients, where flourite takes a lot more.born2lovefish;697803;697803 said:
planting media?
- Thread starter born2lovefish
- Start date
My tanks have it straight in, and I don't have any problems with dust clouds. By rinsing the flourite you are wasting some of the nutrients. Try it before you knock it.---XR---;697911;697911 said:i fnd it really dirty, and with fish in the tank, if the fish thrashes at all, a huge cloud of dust rises, i personally mind that, but that's just me
Ok thanks. I guess I will buy 55 oz of laterite. Maybe I can get petsmart to match an online price to save me shipping...think so... I will have 130 watts on a 40 gallon breeder. Keep in mind the tank is very low so light will reach plants faster and my substrate already is about 3 inches deep so that makes them even closer to the light. I have flouresants I can add in my canopy if I need more light down the road. I have had amazons grow in my 29 gallon with one 20 watt bulb. But I guess I can just try this and see. I might have to buy one of 2 more compact bulbs. Thanks.
i bought some flourite 5-6 years ago that I just dumped in the tank and it wasn't messy at all, nothing that didn't clear up in 3 hours.
I bought some flourite 4 days ago and 3 bags of it in my 58 made it look like the whole tank was full of severe diarreha, the flashlight only penetrated about 3 inches in, 2 100% water changes later (while stirring the substrate), it's still crappy, but it's a grey cloudy and doesn't look like fecal matter anymore. There are some clumps in the substrate that looked like some flourite held together by dirt, seriously.
So I think sometimes flourite needs rinsing and sometimes not.
Profile Clay Soil conditioner can go without rinsing, my crypts did great in profile. A lot cheaper too, but seems to be only seasonally available at stores, unless you buy the aquatic soil version for like 5 times the price
I bought some flourite 4 days ago and 3 bags of it in my 58 made it look like the whole tank was full of severe diarreha, the flashlight only penetrated about 3 inches in, 2 100% water changes later (while stirring the substrate), it's still crappy, but it's a grey cloudy and doesn't look like fecal matter anymore. There are some clumps in the substrate that looked like some flourite held together by dirt, seriously.
So I think sometimes flourite needs rinsing and sometimes not.
Profile Clay Soil conditioner can go without rinsing, my crypts did great in profile. A lot cheaper too, but seems to be only seasonally available at stores, unless you buy the aquatic soil version for like 5 times the price
Flourite generally always does that, but a simple sponge filter will fix that problem very quickly. 30 lbs of flourite in a 20 gallon with one Hydro IV sponge filter, and no rinsing, only took 1 hour to see to the back wall, and 3 hours to have crystal clear water.JackDonkey;711377;711377 said:
There has to be a cheaper "diy" substrate that is a lot cheaper than flourite or laterite!....Any ideas?
There are cheaper substrate, but they won't be as good. Layering is one method to getting the cost down. In the end, however, it's a bigger problem.
born2lovefish;711730; said:
http://www.schultz.com/ProductCategories/Soilsamendments/AquaticPlantSoil/
it was $6.38 for .3 cubic feet bag of it last sunday when I went to home depot.
I've used it in the past when it was called Profile clay soil conditioner and came in a giant bag for under $13 (one bag was good enough for my 58 gallon, which is 36"x18" btw). It was good for crypts and sword plants, but I never had much success with glossostigma or wisteria or any of them, not sure if that was the soil or me though
schultz is good stuff
in my 240 i use Soilmaster select
price has gone up but 50lbs for $16 still isnt bad
2 bags was enough for a 4inch bed in my tank
http://www.lesco.com/?PageID=27&ItemNumber=083365
in my 240 i use Soilmaster select
price has gone up but 50lbs for $16 still isnt bad
2 bags was enough for a 4inch bed in my tank
http://www.lesco.com/?PageID=27&ItemNumber=083365
So I can just buy a 50 pound bag and mix some in with the sand I already have and that should do the trick?
