Substrate????!!! :(

Hi everyone! Im looking for any suggestions as to what substrate would be the best and easiest to use in my 4ft aquarium.

Ive been reading up as much as i can but just getting more and more confused between all the different options.

I would like alot of plants so i guess that means a nurient rich substrate, but what to choose and how to use it is where i get stuck…

Thanks in advance!!!

 

please go to sponsers post on the forum or go here http://www.theplantedtank.co.za/:bigsmile:

best soil in SA probably the world... oh and seanj dont mention it lol...

 

LOL! Thanks Lloyd...

@Henrivr - We sell ADA Aquasoil New Amazonia. It's their latest offering, and said to be the best of the lot. It's extremely nutrient rich and it is possibly one of the best planted tank substrates on the market. For a 4ft tank, you would need 4 x 9L bags.

 

Chat to @Sean J .
He imports Ada Aquasol

 

Thanks guys! Aquasoil does sound very good, but its way too expensive for me…

What are the cheaper options?

 

PFP soaked in chemicut is the very cheapest!lol must be capped
them i think earthwirm castings
sera florabase
seachem flourite ppl have had good results with this but if you look at a 9lbag of amazonia its almost twice the size and will be cheaper than if you tried to mach it with flourite..
i think theres a tetra complete substrate aswell?
HTH

 

Cheaper options are getting poolfilter sand. Underneath it, get Palm fiber Peat and Chemicult. Allow the palm fiber peat to soak in a bucket of the chemicult for a day or 2. Use that underneath the pool filter sand. Then you can use root tabs like the ADA Multi bottom to add some ferts to your roots of the plants. That would work out much cheaper.

 

Search the forum under the professor's subforum about Palm Fibre Peat. There's a good thread or 2 there worth reading. Long reads tho.

Oh, and go over to the article section, I seem to recall writing an article about substrates myself... (DOPE!!!)

 

How do i go about soaking the PFP with chemicult? capping it with how much PFS is enough? Oh and where to the all the stuff lol! I havent seen PFP before so really dunno what to look for, neither chemicult!

 

Here they are for easy reference:

http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/showthread.php?9373-Zooms-Article-4-Fertilizers-Substrates-and-CO2

http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/s...fiber-Peat-soaked-in-Chemicult-as-a-substrate.

http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/s...ult-as-a-substrate-for-growing-aquatic-plants

 

Read the threads I just referenced!

 

Thanks Zoom, those links were just what I was looking for!

You guys help alot!

 

You can also use the MicrobeLift Biologically Alive Substrate.

 

This SOIL looks great : http://www.theplantedtank.co.za/product.php?id_product=10

Is it a dark brown? and I presume plants can root easily in the soil?

 

@dangerousd - Yup, it's dark brown. Plants love Aquasoil. It was created for that particular reason. To help promote the growth of plants, and keep their roots healthy.

 

i have the PFP method but i will be changing as soon as possible to Aquasoil. with the PFP you have to be really sure about your design and plant placement, since once you've filled the tank you cant rearrange stuff.

 

So i went looking for some PFP and chemicult today… found a place that sells PFP yay! an i found some chemucult, but im not sure what type im suppose to buy??? There where 4 different types of chemicult, all in 500g tubs and they looked quite old… so i went to another place and asked for chemicult, the sales person gave me STARKE AYRES NUTRIFEED and said its basically the same as chemicult.

So my questions are, what chemicult should i buy? Where in the eastrand can i get it? And if i can use the NUTRIFEED instead of chemicult?

 

@Henrivr - Go read the Prof's sticky thread on PFP and Chemicult under his sub section of the forum....

 

Peat works fantastically - I tried it when I started out . My only problem was when I wanted to move established plants around. The roots wrap around the peat and when pulled up drag a stream of peat along - instant pitch black water. I then tried the Tetra complete substrate - no complaints except for the price. Seachem - same story. I eventually got onto Sera Floredepot and stuck with it. My main issue was always getting enough CO2 to dissolve.

 

The problem I've found with the Tetra, Seachem and Sera undergravel ferts is that they only last 8-12 months in the tank, and then become useless.