Plants for Asian Biotope...

[cassharper]

no more than 2-3", or you will start to get problems associated with deep sand beds

 

[Corrado93]

it would seem that many sources all over the internet highly recommend the use of substrate designed for plant growth.
should i play it safe and go with that or is it just a marketing gimmic?

Thanks
C

 

[cassharper]

these "sources" are right, they are very beneficial... just not necessary. Most aquatic plant substrates will just be a sand/clay substrate impregnated with nutrients (chelated iron, potash of potassium, etc). I love fluorite, it's wonderful stuff; eco-complete I could live with out.

 

[Noto]

Inert substrate and expensive aquarium soil aren't the only options. Try this:

Start with a layer of dried leaves, such as maple, oak, or hickory. Avoid waxy leaves, conifer needles, walnut, and tree-of-heaven. Obviously you should collect these from a clean area well away from a road, cropland, or other toxin source.

Add a layer of ordinary woodland topsoil (again, from a clean area), or the cheapest bagged topsoil you can find (Hyponex works great).

Plant your plants.

Top with a layer of gravel.

Fill with water.

Run your filter with just polyfil for a day or two to get the suspended silt out, then put in your normal media.

It's dirt cheap (hah!) and works great.

 

[cassharper]

Inert substrate and expensive aquarium soil aren't the only options. Try this:

Start with a layer of dried leaves, such as maple, oak, or hickory. Avoid waxy leaves, conifer needles, walnut, and tree-of-heaven. Obviously you should collect these from a clean area well away from a road, cropland, or other toxin source.

Add a layer of ordinary woodland topsoil (again, from a clean area), or the cheapest bagged topsoil you can find (Hyponex works great).

Plant your plants.

Top with a layer of gravel.

Fill with water.

Run your filter with just polyfil for a day or two to get the suspended silt out, then put in your normal media.

It's dirt cheap (hah!) and works great.

other variations include a layer of peat below regular substrate, mineralized soil (do a search, I had a recipe on here a while back), and others. They are just more work and less stable, still good options though.

 

[Corrado93]

other variations include a layer of peat below regular substrate, mineralized soil (do a search, I had a recipe on here a while back), and others. They are just more work and less stable, still good options though.

what about just regular substrate and using root tabs with liquid plant fertilizer? my selection of plants will he of the hardy variety.

C

 

[Corrado93]

I like Carib Sea Black Tahitian Moon Sand. Its expensive here in Montreal, $26.00 for 20 Lbs.
However, on the Carib Sea website, its states that this particular sand is not good for Plants.

C

 

[thingthing]

im doing a similar setup at the moment 35 gallon asian biotope planted. i got alot of plants for free but 1/2 of them are not from asia, so im setting up a south american biotope at the same time (20 gallon) and put the anubias into my mbuna tank. i just found a 3 foot tank it needs some silicone work and lids might do south american biotope in that instead.

and im using seachem flourite red, and plan on getting co2 in the future.