Serpentkeeper_dfmc Posted September 19, 2016 Report Share Posted September 19, 2016 Hi everyone. I'm planning to start my first planted tank. I'm just wondering what everyone is using for a substrate?? This will be a low tec tank for now. Any suggestions would be great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted September 19, 2016 Report Share Posted September 19, 2016 PlaySand... check out my journal threads Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FunkSolid Posted September 19, 2016 Report Share Posted September 19, 2016 National Geographic sand Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWetLeaf Posted September 20, 2016 Report Share Posted September 20, 2016 For a planted tank, you'll benefit a lot if you use a substrate meant for plants. Some thing like Ada, Tropica aquarium soil/substrate combo, Eco complete, Dirted/Walstad (can't rearrange things to much) all work best in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pipejax Posted September 20, 2016 Report Share Posted September 20, 2016 54 gallon corner tank Carib Sea Eco-Complete Planted - Standard - Black 20 long Seachem Flourite Red Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted September 20, 2016 Report Share Posted September 20, 2016 I used to spend a fortune on "Plant substrates"... now, if I want a high CEC under a sword or Crypt, I'll add a few clay balls, but still just use $8/50lbs playsand and Estimative Index fertilizing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biodives Posted September 20, 2016 Report Share Posted September 20, 2016 If it is a single small tank going with commercial solutions takes less thinking/risking and won't cost too much. If it is a big tank or the first of many I would go with a play sand cover layer and organic/clay bottom layer. I was just looking at clays today and Edmonton has a clay specialty store for pottery that would be interesting to check out. Originally I was going to dig up some bentonite clay from the river valley but discovered that there are different bentonites that use different metal ions: magnesium, calcium, barium, iron, potassium, or sodium. I guess the latter is the safest choice and it apparently is exactly what some "all-natural" cat litter material is made off. Somebody just brought up cat litter as a cheap and easy substrate material in another thread last week, so I bet this is how that would work. I would still add some organic material as well. Either organic, non-fertilized, potting soil or peat moss. Someone on the net also used vermiculite as a component for his substrate and this is another variety of clay. So many choices but I expect that many of them do the work so no need to overthink. In my last project I actually just dug up dirty sand from a pool in the river valley and used the blackish goo as the bottom layer. It worked so far but on my next tank I will try the clay/organics approach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
variatus Posted September 21, 2016 Report Share Posted September 21, 2016 The clay specialty store, is that the Plainsman Pottery Supply? I'm looking to get some redart clay or an M2 raw clay to mix with my substrate, have read that they are high in Iron content. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biodives Posted September 21, 2016 Report Share Posted September 21, 2016 Yes that is the store and they do have some with high iron content to give the clay/pottery a reddish color. If you go let us know how it worked out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SomethingIsFishy Posted September 21, 2016 Report Share Posted September 21, 2016 ADA and Fluval. I also like Flourite. I won't ever use aquarium gravel again.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
variatus Posted September 22, 2016 Report Share Posted September 22, 2016 (edited) Yes that is the store and they do have some with high iron content to give the clay/pottery a reddish color. If you go let us know how it worked out. For sure I will update this thread. Update: So I called the pottery supply and ask for a redart clay (high iron content). Lucky they still have a couple of small bags available, supposedly this raw clay is a fav among pottery makers and they run out quickly. I got a 5lbs clay redart (Cedar Heights) for 5$. Another good thing of getting raw clay is its powder form compare to clay bodies that are pre-mixed (with different chemical contents) ready for use. So yeah drop in their store, the manager is pretty knowledgeable about their products. Edited September 26, 2016 by variatus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devocole Posted September 27, 2016 Report Share Posted September 27, 2016 ADA is the way to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearBarry1 Posted September 27, 2016 Report Share Posted September 27, 2016 Just plain old gravel with an undergravel filter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serpentkeeper_dfmc Posted September 28, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2016 I ended up going with an all natural garden mix that we had kicking around and some gravel. So far so good. Need some more plants to fill in the tank though as I've only got two plants right now lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biodives Posted September 28, 2016 Report Share Posted September 28, 2016 I recommend getting a good dose of floating plants to suck up nutrients released from the soil into the water as the tank starts up. Once the tank settles there should be very little release of soil nutrients into the water and you can reduce/remove the floating plants. However, I always like to keep floating plants. They grow faster and thus remove a lot of waste products without competing with the other plants for CO2. They are also easy to harvest. I direct my pump outlet so all floaters end up in one corner where they do not affect light-sensitive submerged plants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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