Substrate for Low tech planted tank?

Hi guys!

I'm setting up a new low tech planted tank, the tank will be heavily planted and stocked with an assortment of tetras. The tank size is 100l. Does anyone have advice on:
-What soil to consider?
-Where to buy/find the soil?
-How to prepare the substrate?
-Any other factors that should be considered in making this choice?

Thanks in advance any and all advice welcome!

 

ADA aquasoil or Seachem Flourite....

Aquasoil: can't vouch for its availability but do know that you can order it from Betterweather with plants. Does leech ammonia though ( to varying degrees ) which is great if the tank is new and no live stock is present.... the go to substrate for most aqua scapers

Seachem flourite: doesn't leech ammonia and is reported to never lose its nutrients. Is an absolute nightmare to rinse though ( first hand experience ) . Comes in either gravel like appearance or sand version.... in different colours if you prefer. Most decent shops should have in stock

Sure you know but substrate is only a small factor in overall planted tanks.... Adequate lighting and fertilisation/liquid carbon in the actual water column ( especially if you're going to implement moss, Anubias, java fern.... ) must not be ignored


I've most likely forgotten to mention a few things though haha.... you never stop learning in this side of fish keeping

 

Aquasoil ~ First prize
Seachem ~ second

If on budget, DIY ~ palm fibre peat or topsoil

Sent from my ALE-L02 using Tapatalk

 

If you on a budget ... or just starting out and want to feel the world out a bit normal inert PFS will work just fine. Esp if low tech means lower light, maybe no CO2 but OK levels of fertz and some DIY root tabs.

PFP is great but a pain if you want to move stuff around.

Dirt tanks can have great results, but you need to keep an eye on them and algae.

What "look" are you going for in your planted tank... work from your desired state backwards.

Later Ferdie

 

Very good advice.

I use Seachem Flourite Black, and if I had to start up another tank I would use Seachem Flourite Sand, as it is better suited to Cory's and other catfish.
The normal Flourite tends to be a bit on the sharp side for bottom feeders.

 

Agree with Ferdie especially if the colour is no issue. I have used PFS to great success in both a high and low tech setup.

I have used both ADA and cal aqua labs black earth. They both look exactly the same but i personally prefer the Cal aqua labs product as I did not notice any ammonia spike and the substrate produced crystal clear water.....

In any event, I suppose your budget will dictate what you can or cant go for.

 

Agree 100%. For me, it would have made sense to churn the substrate with polishing stones in a rotating drum, just to take the rough edges off. That would have made it a lot more suitable without giving up any of the goodness. But it is too much hassle to DIY, and I am not sure where one would find an industrial facility willing to do it with a small batch of material. My cories and kuhlis have suffered, and for the time being I have given up on them in my planted tank. If I had to do it over, I would have gone for Aquasoil and fluorite sand. But it gets near R1k just to put substrate in a 3ft tank, and I have other priorities ATM.

 

IME, all great advice so far. Considering that you're aiming for low-tech, PFS with some root tabs is a great option. Would be much cheaper to set up than using ADA or Seachem subs. As the other guys have mentioned, if there will be cories or other species that like to burrow and feed from the subs, it would be best to find a suitable compromise (fine-grained and rounded subs). Nothing worse than a cory with knackered barbels.

The white gravel sold at your LFS is likely a silica gravel made from crushed quartz. Not the best for bottom dwellers, but will do the low-tech job well if you include root tabs or water column dosing. Quartz gravel and PFS are essentially the same thing, SiO2, except the PFS has seemingly been processed (tumbled?) to give a rounded grain. Both are inert, hence the need for root tabs or water column fert dosing. I've had success either way. Even with the likes of glosso and other carpeting plants. If you don't include any fert dosing, it will take some time to build up the necessary mulm which will feed your rooting plants.

I would suggest that you make your choice based on your intended plant species, and as Ferdie says, work backwards from your vision of the mature tank. If you're going for anubias and ferns (rhizome plants), the substrate isn't particularly important as you will be anchoring to the hardscape. If you're looking at stem plants or swords etc, quality subs are on the cards. Enjoy the planning!

 

I think this is something to think about. There are plenty of plants that would allow you to scape without a high-quality substrate, but which you could get to thrive with the right liquid supplements. Anubias, most of the mosses and ferns, Bucephalandra and anything else that will attach to rock or wood, are things that will work. Also, there are many rooted plants that will do okay in gravel or fine sand, such as Vallis. Swords and Cryptocorynes can be grown successfully if you give them root tabs every now and then. I am not a planted tank expert, but what I can tell you is that having tried a whole number of plants and fertilisation and lighting, the more I think about it, the more I like the idea of low-light tolerant, slow-growing and substrate-insensitive plants. If you go for nutrient-hungry and fast-growing plants, you are going to have to do a heck of a lot of pruning and maintenance. Like gardening, it is either something you'll love, or hate. A log covered in Java fern or Anubias of various shapes and sizes can go a long way in scaping an aquarium, and it is rather unnecessary to have a "lawn" from the fishes' perspective. But either way, experiment a bit, and if you find something that works for you, please share the knowledge.

 

Thank you for all the replies! I have learned so much, all of the advise will be considered before I will make my final choice. I will most likely head the store bought aquasoil way... I really appreciate all the help!

 

And remember to post some pics on the progress.

Later Ferdie

 

lots of nice info here. I really need to come back to this for my planted tank when I start on it.