Wizzbone

Hi fish lovers of this planet

As you know by now, I have a planted tank... Now the problem is that the same soil has been in there for about 5 years... Originally I put in an expensive potting mix, and -as my website (www.signing-hands.com.au) explained- I learned quickly about all the algae that are possible in a fishtank! one celled algae, hair algea etc etc

So I am considering replacing the soil in the future... after i fix my 3 foot tank and painting the house. This tank is (I think) build with thin glass, because it has a ugly looking bit in the middle (see website). Si will buy another tank build with thicker glass.

Then, I want to replace the tank, and then the soil... does that make sense?
So I had a look for other soil (substrate).

Ican go to the shop and buy special soil for the fishtank (no phosphate etc) but that is AUD 100 a bag and I need two!) So I like some ideas on making my own soil

One idea Ihad was getting pottingmix for Australian Natives. They are very low in phosphate. use that as a base perhaps?

What do you guys think?

Butterfly

Have never used soil in my tanks so I can't help you there
What kind of look are you after? I use pea gravel or pool sand in most of my tanks and they have a very natural look to them. I have used the black eco-complete also but it can be a little expensive.
Carol

darkwolf29a

Honestly, I've only used gravel and silica, or sandblasting, sand. Sand is WAY cheaper than gravel at US $5 for 50 pounds. And I just keep low light plants in it. I don't need much else, honestly.

Butterfly

Pool filter sand doesn't have to be washed so thats why I use it over other types of sand.
Carol

hamstermann

Soilmaster select by a company called Lesco is good. you can get 50 pounds for around $17 US Dollars if you have a lesco dealership near you. It's baked and crushed clay and I'm told it grows plants like crazy. I've only had mine for a few days so I'm not sure if it's true or not, but I like the look. it comes in red or charcoal and is the same stuff that is put on baseball fields.

griffin

are you looking for a plant specific substrate? if not, a lot of things would work well, even in a planted tank.

i have a planted tank, and i just use sand. it's one of the easiest substrates to maintain, and it's also really cheap.

Wizzbone

Yes I am looking for a way of making my own substrate... So I need to know where to start, what to add etc..

I realise I can buy it, and here in Australia I could travel a 100+km north and get it from the side of the road....

Just from a hobby point of view (similar to making your own chiller) could I mix my own ingredients and make my own and would it be cheaper?

my first attempt was potting mix and peatmoss. The phosphate in the potting mix was way to high and created great plants, but also lots of algae! So AHA! as little as possible phosphate! Native Australian plants also don't like phosphate - hence they grow in Australia where the soil has little or no phosphate!

But what is the ideal substrate for aquarium plants? how much N-P-k, micro nutrients etc etc....

Wizz

griffin

ah ok - i wasn't sure if you were just trying to save money or if you really wanted to do a DIY.

sorry to be of no help, but i'm not really sure what kind of npk/micro/etc would be needed. as far as price, however, i'm pretty sure buying sand would be cheaper. sand (in the us anyway) comes at about $2-3 for 50 pounds. if you went with a fancy substrate, that would cost significantly more.

hope you find something good!

Butterfly

I just paid $10 for 50lb of pool filter sand but it was worth it not to have to rinse it. I have used play sand (which is cheaper) but hated all the rinsing I had to do. I know I'm lazy
Carol

griffin

or efficient :P

Butterfly

8) 8) :P

COBettaCouple

hmm.. i'd thought about the play sand but if you don't have to rinse pool filter sand, maybe that'll be the way we go if we do go to sand for a tank substrata.. i'm lazy for a lazy person. !

darkwolf29a

Don't have to rinse silica sand either, really. Not having used pool filter sand, how much clouding does it cause when putting it into water?

With the silica is it doesn't cause any at all. I'm always moving the stuff around in the tank, since my Oscar digs and my pleco like to move the universe with his tail. LOL Plus, there's the added necessety of adding more later, since you do suck some when vacuuming. I have a little container that I use once a month, if necessary, to add some.

sirdarksol

I've gone with fluorite (ordered from my favorite fish-supply company, Drs Foster and Smith), and have had some mixed success. However, the negative parts I do not believe come from the fluorite, but from lighting conditions in the tank. I've mixed fluorite in with the gravel of a tank with no special lighting and developed some fairly healthy myrmio (supposed to be high-light plants)

ghostdart

what is a planted tank? does it have fish in it

i know sounds really dumb question but i have never heard about this type of tank before

ghostdart

COBettaCouple

i think it's basically what the name implies. A tank heavily planted with a variety of plants - sort of a 'landscaped' tank.

Butterfly

The pool filter sand is just what it says, sand used for swimming pool filters and as such is dustless so doesn't cause any clouding. I also find the grains seem to be rounder.
Carol

COBettaCouple

dustless - what a wonderful word for substrata! dust is 1 of the 2 big reasons we abandoned gravel for flat marbles.

Butterfly

oh yes I have washed many a bag of pea gravel. In fact I just washed a bag of muddy pea pebbles from wal-mart for dear hubby to put in a 55G tank. UGH!!!
Carol

darkwolf29a

I got some gravel I can send you. LOL

I'll never use the stuff again. I like the look of the sand, for one. And if you suck some up...you only lost a penny or two. Considering that I've covered 4 tanks with less than 2 bags of sand...I'm sold. LOL

Plus, the fish find it easier to move if they want. Ody and Plato just wish their tails to make the stuff move, if they want. Ody likes having a pit to sleep in.

Butterfly

Yep I like sand better also but hubby wanted pea pebbles for his tank he's setting up
As some may know we just moved from one state to another and took 16 tanks down before we moved. Now we are in the process of setting them back up
The 75G is the loach tank and has pool sand in it but it is a different color than what I had before and I really like it. Will start another thread and post pics when I get it like I want it
Carol

COBettaCouple

i hope pea pebbles aren't little rocks near a bathroom. !

we'll be posting a thread for ideas soon on our state to state move with our 10 tanks. FL to CO, 1800 miles.

sirdarksol

Ah, so you're coming up to where the weather is more reasonably erratic? Sure, you guys down in Florida have a higher average temp, but the highs and lows are really insane in these landlocked states.

Also, does this mean you'll be changing your name?

COBettaCouple

yea, denver is NUTS! especially in sept. and may - sunny and warm to snowing in a couple hours, it's a rollercoaster of weather. i hadn't thought of changing our name.. nobody will know us.. we'll be outcasts.. lepers.. !

Butterfly

lets see... outcastbettacouple? leperbettacouple? Oh never mind no matter what you change it to we would know you anywhere!
Carol

sirdarksol

What, you mean more than you are now? Seriously, you live down in Florida. How can human beings live down there? Sure, the mosquitoes aren't anywhere near as big as the ones we breed in MN, and the weather's not as extreme, but I can't imagine the fear of one's house being flooded in any given year would be.... hmmm... got that here... but still, your house could be knocked over by gale force.... wait, tornadoes have stronger winds, and we've got plenty of those up here... but the gators... no wait, I like them... ok but I'm sure it's really humid in the... wait, yesterday felt like a sauna... but Florida's America's... No, wait, can't quote Homer Simpson on that, this is a family forum.
Sorry, I got nothing.

COBettaCouple

LOL.. well, we live on the coast so the humidity is lower.. you'll find higher humidity through most of the US than along the coastline.. i've not seen much in the way of mosquitos between the development construction and all the spraying.. we're not in a flood plain, have never seen a tornado in this town and the last hurricane to hit here (head on) was like around 1906 or so.. we're ok with the Gators since we're part of the Gator Nation and loving all the national titles..

susitna-flower

COBettaCouple

yea, even in FL.. factors like city size, shopper tendancies, etc. affect the LFS situation. our little town has a terrible lack of fish shops.. all we have is the petco.

VertigoXLR8R222

okay so i just swapped over to sand had an abundance that was left over from setting up lizard cages just plain white beach sand from here in Gulfport took a glass gallon jar and filled it about half way stuck a water hose in it and let it run for about ten minutes stirring constantly checking after a few minutes to see if the water was cloudy or if the sand would settle quickly and leave clear water once i achieved clear water i boiled the sand and added it into my tank two days later i am scratching my head wondering what is clouding my water then i remember the term "mini-cycle" i'm glad i left the tank half gravel so i had that much good bacteria left either way i am wondering if there is an amount of sand i need to have or better yet can too much sand be bad it's about an inch deep and i think that will be enough and i am leaving it half sand and half gravel maybe Lee