Substrate for Planted Tanks
Advertisement
- Messages
- 309
I forgot to say I would like to have a nice size school of Corys and want to make sure they won't cut themselves when they go sift around.
I will look up the black sand. Thank you for the idea
Also is it seachem made or another brand
I will look up the black sand. Thank you for the idea
Also is it seachem made or another brand
Advertisement
- Messages
- 309
Advertisement
- Messages
- 2,604
- Messages
- 1,545
I just put pool filter sand into my new 75G two days ago. I'm adding ammonia and seeding from my current tank tonight. The sand looks absolutely amazing. It's big grained tan sand, with some lighter and darker specks in it. It took forever to rinse but I love it. It looks amazing.
I'm just worried about growing plants. I've heard growing plants with PFS is tough.
Do you have any advice for good plants or techniques for growing them?
Thanks
- Messages
- 2,604
I would say the easiest to grow is java fern and anubias with PFS bc you can attach them to decor. if you want some to go in the sand I would say amazon sword. those things are THE GREATEST rooters. i've had one in my 10 gallon for maybe a month and its roots are at the very bottom, they are super thick and they take over half the tank (I've pulled it up once) plus they look amazing. so I suggest java fern, anubias, and amazon sword. if you start a thread with more detail I could help you
A) Dirted tank. Get pool filter sand, and some kind of natural potting mix like miracle grow. Look up dirtd tank tutorials. Will grow plants like weeds, but you'll have to let it sit for a few weeks until the ammonia spike from the dirt goes down. Cheap, great for plants, and won't affect water chemistry.
B) Plain sand with root tabs for root feeders, and plenty of water column ferts, e.g. Tropica grow or nilocg thrive. This will take a bit of fine tuning but will grow plants.
C) Best option, Fluval Shrimp and Plant Stratum, ADA Amazonia, or any of the "gucci" substrates. These work just like they are marketed to, will lower ph for shrimp and plants, and will grow plants amazingly.
D) Another good option, is get some calcined clay (non scented kitty litter, baseball dirt stuff, ect). Combine with root tabs and heavy water column ferts and it'll work almost as good as a guccI substrate. Make sur eto do your research so you get the right stuff that won't dissolve or mess up your tank.
Easy to grow plants: Water Sprite, Wisteria, Floaters, Anacharis, Java Moss, Java Fern, Anubias, Amazon Sword. Watch the sword, it will get huge and take over your tank. Mak sure you have decent lighting and root tabs for it too. These are just some basics, and most stem plants will be very easy. Just get a quality fert like NilocG or Tropica or something like that, and good lighting. Don't blast your light for too long, 6 hours is good to start. Good water agitation is a must, along with good flow. Watch your nitrates and adjust ferts accordingly, start on the low end of the dosing spectrum. Don't get seachem flourish, imo it doesn't do much as it doesn't have needed macro nutrients.
I use black diamond blasting sand. It'll depend how needy the plants are.
Advertisement
Between the two, play sand or pool filter sand, use pool filter sand every time. I tried play sand, the grains are way smaller the pool filter sand and a lot harder to clean over pool filter sand.
Pool filter sand is the way I went. I have no experience with black diamond blasting sand, never tried it.
Pool filter sand is the way I went. I have no experience with black diamond blasting sand, never tried it.
- Messages
- 7,145
An inch of organic potting soil capped with an inch of coarse sand will grow pretty much anything, but it can be a messy and lengthy process. Good news is that the initial ammonia spike cycles your tank without the need of fish or added chemicals.
Sand or pea gravel (coarse gravel isn't good for plant growth) with root tabs will also grow plants well.
Aquasoils are very good, but can be expensive, and if you don't want your water chemistry altered then most of them won't be an option as a lot of them are formulated to lower your pH and work in tandem with remineralized RO/distilled water to maintain soft, acidic environments. Great stuff for shrimp and most plants though.
Sand or pea gravel (coarse gravel isn't good for plant growth) with root tabs will also grow plants well.
Aquasoils are very good, but can be expensive, and if you don't want your water chemistry altered then most of them won't be an option as a lot of them are formulated to lower your pH and work in tandem with remineralized RO/distilled water to maintain soft, acidic environments. Great stuff for shrimp and most plants though.
In my experience the very best results i’ve had is with eco-complete covered with BDBS. But the eco-complete isn’t cheap.
The sand over organic potting mix is the best cheap option. One type of organic potting mix had a lot of nitrogen initially. In my case I was moving seeded sponge filters in for the cycle so here’s how it went.
I put the potting mix in the tank, 1.5” deep and filled the tank, messy. I let it settle for 24 hours, removed water to 2” over soil and gently added 2” of BDBS, but any sand would work. Filled tank and did 90% water changes 3 days straight to get rid of the floating peat moss. I then added 2 double sponge filters. Ammonia was 8ppm. I was worried the high ammonia level would kill the beneficial bacteria in the sponges. 8 days later, totally cycled and added fish.
More work on the front end but way easier to clean than gravel and the plants love it.
The only caution is that both of my dirty tanks initially had tons of diatoms and brown algae . But proper light and 2 snails alleviated that.
The sand over organic potting mix is the best cheap option. One type of organic potting mix had a lot of nitrogen initially. In my case I was moving seeded sponge filters in for the cycle so here’s how it went.
I put the potting mix in the tank, 1.5” deep and filled the tank, messy. I let it settle for 24 hours, removed water to 2” over soil and gently added 2” of BDBS, but any sand would work. Filled tank and did 90% water changes 3 days straight to get rid of the floating peat moss. I then added 2 double sponge filters. Ammonia was 8ppm. I was worried the high ammonia level would kill the beneficial bacteria in the sponges. 8 days later, totally cycled and added fish.
More work on the front end but way easier to clean than gravel and the plants love it.
The only caution is that both of my dirty tanks initially had tons of diatoms and brown algae . But proper light and 2 snails alleviated that.
Well I think the soil sounds cool but complicated. I bought the pool sand and already got the tank up and cycling. I will just use root tabs. I can't get most of the fancy stuff here anyway unless I order online..We are very rural. I can't even get plants until I go to a bigger city in a few weeks. I am going to try the soil and sand or gravel with a ten gallon first, cause I do want a shrimp only tank eventually.
I know what you mean about being rural, because I am the same way. I have to order most of the stuff I use for fish keeping. When I do make an hour trip to the city, I have to plan for everything I need and try and pick it up in as few trips as possible. Gas and time add to the cost of things when making the trips to the city to buy them.
- Messages
- 7,145
Advertisement
- Messages
- 359
What is the best substrate for a planted tank?tank will have some minnows. The tank is 15 gallons. I’m currently using Flourite Black from Seachem in a 3 gallon.
- Messages
- 9,091
Layer of dirt from the woods, sifted and picked through for bugs, then a layer lf sand on top. Dirted tanks are my favorite way to get a planted tank going.
Plain old sand is also a good choice but you’ll need root tabs and liquid ferts for the right plants.
Plain old sand is also a good choice but you’ll need root tabs and liquid ferts for the right plants.
- Messages
- 359
- Messages
- 9,091
Been there, done that! I ended up capping flourite black sand with pool filter sand. It is very dusty and rinsing it enough to keep the tank clear means removing the good stuff. This tank is the one with capped flourite.
I’ve also used flourite red when I first started out. Very dusty even if rinsed well. Plants did so-so but that may be because of my inexperience.
I’ve also used flourite red when I first started out. Very dusty even if rinsed well. Plants did so-so but that may be because of my inexperience.
- Messages
- 4,119
I used red fluorite in my 50 gallon and ended capping also with cheap black diamond blasting sand for various reasons chiefly because the sand is better for corydoras and I like the look of the black sand. Any new tanks I will just use the black sand ($9 for 50lb) and root tabs, skipping the fancy substrate.
- Messages
- 359
- Messages
- 4,119
- Messages
- 359
- Messages
- 4,119
- Messages
- 359
Advertisement
- Messages
- 11,830
and pool filter sand
- Messages
- 11,830
- Messages
- 81
Val will grow in a bare bottom with very little attention. What plants are you interested in aside from val?
I'd suggest you look into the smaller vals. The jungle val can get 6 foot long blades and would really be unmanageable in your tank. Maybe some sagittaria undulata instead?
I'd suggest you look into the smaller vals. The jungle val can get 6 foot long blades and would really be unmanageable in your tank. Maybe some sagittaria undulata instead?
- Messages
- 12,262
Advertisement
- Messages
- 12,262
No 1/4 size gravel . Yes some like the 3-4. But I think 2-3 will be enough. 40lbs will get you that look. Add 30 and see how you like it. If you want more you have another 10lbs to play with. So 1/4” is the size of a grain of gravel 1/8” Is even better but hard to find. If you go bigger more waste will fall in between the gravel.
- Messages
- 9
Have you consider a dirted tank? I built a dirted around the 2018 Thanksgiving time frame and it's doing very well everything I put in there grows. You can find large bag of organic potting soil for the same cost of a pack of root tabs.
Like...potting soil dirt? While it sounds like it grow stuff quite well, I feel it might get rather DIRTy if the substrate were ever to get disturbed.
OK I'll see myself out now.
So I had an interesting idea. I was browsing substrates on Amazon (because that is apparently what I do at 1 in the morning now) and I found that Fluval Stratum seems to be really good for planted tanks.
But I also like the look of Fluorite Black Sand.
So I'm thinking, would it be okay if I just bought a 17 pound bag of each of them and used them in conjunction in my aquarium? Fluval Stratum on the bottom and Fluorite on the top.
Let me know if this is okay or if I've officially lost it. Thanks!
- Messages
- 9
Here is my tank right now. It's a 5 gallons shrimp tank. I'm not sure what type of fish toy planning to put in your planted tank but it should be the type fish that doesn't disturb the substrate and plants.
Attachments
- Messages
- 9
- Messages
- 9
I started with 10 cherry shrimp in Feb 2019 and if I was estamate probably around 200 now. They hatch new shrimps every week. I don't really feed them they usually eat most of the new hatchling. And once a week I take a plant that has algae on it from another tank and place it in the shrimp tank for them to clean.
- Messages
- 16
I have a 10 gallon tank that I'm planning on redoing. It was a planted tank (gravel substrate) with a betta. We are going to set it up for chilI rasboras, and I'd like to add plants and a darker substrate to show off their colour. I'm wondering what everybody reccomends using for substrate for planting a tank? What are the pros and cons to laying down soil first or just using gravel?
Advertisement