Substrate

Hi, can someone tell me how many bags of flourite would I need for a tank with a bottom of 1.2 x 60? The total volume of the tank is about 360L. Also what should the flowrate be of a cannister for a tank of that volume?Thanks!:bigsmile:

 

See the substrate calculator on the seachem website http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/Flourite.html

 

Thanks @f-fish. Any idea about the filter?

 

why not go for the ADA aquasoil from @Sean J? He has a special on at R300 a 9L bag and thats the best substrate in the world....

 

i second @ivan

 

ooh really ... hmm to late now already planted the PFP ..

 

I agree using it in my 5ft tank and its a pleasure to plant in also while you collecting just make sure that you get a set of tweezers, makes the planting a pleasure. It also goes further per bag.

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Thanks @ivan, That sounds like a good idea. How much would i need for the tank?

 

Its sold in 9 litre bags, so work the height in substrate that you want in litres and then you would know how many bags to buy.

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You would need 4 bags for a 120 x 45 tank. So I'd say either 5 or 6 bags for a tank that size.

But, I'm almost out of 9L bags of Aquasoil.

 

@Yster, a canister doing 1200lph would do fine, I'm using a Eheim Classic 2217 on my 4ft and it works for me, it is doing about 1000lph. Any rocks, driftwood or so in the tank?

 

@wsteene, the tank is on its way im still busy doing the planning and at the moment im looking at what the most cost effective substrate(other than pfp) would be for a planted tank, but theres going to be wood and rocks. The filter i think would be OK if it turns the total tank volume about 3 times per hour? @Sean J, if i use the ada aquasoil do you use it as the only substrate or do you cap it? And for how long does it stays effective? Would it be possible to mix with other gravel/substrate?

 

Don't cap the aqua soil.
It will stay effective longer with additional liquid fertiliser and I think you will get good use out of it for 3-5 years if you don't change the scape too often.Don't wash the soil,don't crush the soil and don't try to clean the soil with a gravel syphon.

 

Yeah, what he said!

The best thing about ADA Gravel and Aquasoil products, is that it takes zero effort, except for opening the bag and pouring it out.

Now, the only problem is that I am officially out of stock of the 9L bags. I am busy finalizing the new order. Another 200 bags coming.

 

Its really not that finicky, you can rescape and lightly gravel vac, its light so you must take care not to suck it up and if you replant it does not take beating.

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Thanks for the quick reply, too bad your out of 9L bags @Sean J! Think ill go the flourite route then? Or maybe other possibilities? The tank that im going to start is viewable from both sides, any sugestions when it comes to scapeing? Theres no backside to plant all the taller plants lol!

 

Maybe try something like an iwagumi using rocks and carpeting plants only? Glosso, HC, UG, or something similar would do a good job. If you have that and possibly a massive school of tetras, you can have a truly impressive aquascape.

 

Is that the top and front side?:cheesy:
In a tank viewable from more than one side I would go with a island style scape and try to keep the fore ground clear,no plants.This way the scape will look clean and neat from all sides.So all the plants and hardscape is concentrated in the centre of the tank.
This is not easy,the scape will have to look good from all sides and not only from the front.

You can also go for a Iwagumi style tank.Again not easy.The style consists mainly of rock hardscape and a small carpeting plant.One or two species.

 

you would need 5-6 bags to get a nice scape.

 

@Yster, 3 times per hour will be sufficient, the reason why I've asked about rocks and wood: it will be taking up some of your tank volume. For each kilogram your adding it will replace a liter of water. Archimedes' law. Subtract the liters of water replaced from your actual tank volume and work around that for the size of canister required, as I've mentioned before, running a 1.2m (4ft) tank myself with a 1000lph canister (Eheim classic 2217) and no problems. All of the best.
PS: Busy re-scaping my tank to a planted setup and will be adding PFP as substrate capped with pool filter sand. Just waiting for the first long weekend to get to work.