Substrate for Planted Tank

Hello Everyone,

So I am doing abit of research on substrate for my 4 foot planted tank (currently bare bottom).

So this is what comes to mind at the moment

1. Depth of substrate recommended?
2. Looking at Seachem Flourite - I see a few different types mainly based on colour. However I also notice that the plain Seachem Flourite requires less substrate\bags than e.g. black and dark variants using the Seachem calculator if that makes sense...
3. Any other substrates I should be considering?
4. Any other factors to keep in mind?

I want to keep the costs as reasonable as possible with future\maintenance in mind.

What I did see with the Seachem Flourite that I liked is that it does not affect ph\have added chemicals and does not need replacing for the life of the aquarium (not sure how they determine aquarium life...)

Would love to hear your thoughts... on the above or am I way off...

 

If you go flourite, use the sand. I had the gravel and it gets full of debris very easily. It also has a high CEC, meaning it can absorb minerals and deliver them to plants well.

 

I have used Seachem Flourite, inert volcanic sand, and Prodibio.
My experience with each:

Seachem Flourite Black
Keeps it integrity for a number of years.
Quite heavy and compact.
Granules can be a bit large, and tend to be quite sharp when wanting to keep Corydora or Loaches.

Inert black volcanic sand
It is extremely dusty and needs to be rinsed thoroughly before use.
Does not contain any nutrients for plants. Root tabs need to be used for rooting plants.
Granules can get sucked up when doing a gravel vacuum.
Excellent medium for Assassin Snails, and does not bother Corydora or Loaches.

Prodibio Aqua Growth Soil
Resembles ADA Aquasoil, without going "mushy" over time.
Gives the best coverage between the 3 types.
The accompanying vials of chemicals are very beneficial, seeding the substrate and water column with everything needed to get the tank planted and stocked within a few hours.
It is quite light, and allows dirt and other debris to sink under the surface.
The easiest substrate to vacuum, as it releases dirt and debris easily due to being quite light.
Easiest substrate to plant in.
Tends to form depressions in the substrate when you add water too quickly, or when a HOB filter delivers a strong flow of water.
Snails burrow into this substrate the easiest.

 

@Pezulu thanks for the in depth explanation of your experiences. Will definitely keep this in mind as I will be keeping about 11 cories in this tank once the substrate is in.

If you don't mind me asking, which substrate do you use in your current tanks?

 

Had a quick look at the Prodibio website. Product looks very good. Thanks for this bit of info. Will look into them some more!

 

Prodibio and Seachem Flourite are about the same in price, but my experience has shown that you get further with a bag of Prodibio.

I currently use Prodibio in 5 of my (now) 12 tank, and Flourite in 2 of the remaining tanks.
I had Apenogeton Crispus and Echinodorus Ozelot Red growing in both substrates, and they did markedly better in the Prodibio, rooting easier there than in the Flourite.
Perhaps the density of the Prodibio encourages rooting, as it is relatively light and loose when compared to the Flourite.

 

Why not go dirt on the 4ft ... nice big water volume to play with as a first round ... grow some plants out .. and when you have truck loads of plants do a expensive substrate?

Later Ferdie

 

Hmmm will have to think about this - to be honest too scared to mess (lol) it up...

What depth of substrate should I be looking at?

 

Depends on the plants root system but usually 3 cm will do the trick for most plants. Doesnt have to be uniform throughout the tank though - again depends what you want to plant where

 

Anyone uses hayclay as planted substrate?

 

sure .. same as hydroton you are talking about https://gthydro.co.za/products/75-hayclay-small-red.html right ?


I have it in a few tanks as the solo substrate ... but not doing any stems in it, once you get past the floating bits it still stay very light and moves around easily. What I do like to do it mix is with other material that tend to compact overtime. The hayclay seems to reduce this tendency .

Have it mostly in the 2ft tanks as either solo or majority substrate.

My what is now algae tank ;-)




and

typical in the HMF 2ft's just the hayclay - but growing loads in it.



Later Ferdie

I would not do this as an mono substrate in a big planted tank ..

 

Thinking about it ... mixing it with say https://www.bonsaitree.co.za/products/japanese-bonsai-akadama-small-3-5mm?variant=42442687637 ... but then you need to be ok with how akadama works as a substrate.

Later Ferdie

 

talking about dirted tanks, can i use gromor potting mix?

 

Sure can ... but spare yourself some pain and mineralise the potting mix first.

https://www.aquaticplantcentral.com...-mineralized-soil-substrate-aaron-talbot.html

https://www.plantedtank.net/forums/29-substrate/890626-how-mineralize-organic-potting-soil.html

Later Ferdie

 

noted... thanks