Choosing a substrate.

[Bosk]

Greetings,

I'm a newbie fishkeeper who would like to set his 8 gallon bowfront tank up as a heavily planted 'aquascape'.

Right now i'm in the 'planning stage' and have come to the decision of which substrate to choose.


I have Onyx Sand, Flourite and Play Sand to choose from.

Pool Sand is by far the cheapest, and I *much* prefer it's look to the others, but I know that it won't contain anything to help my plants.

Onyx Sand I can get for 7x the price of Play Sand and I prefer it's looks to Flourite.

Flourite I can get for 9x the price of Play Sand and I think it looks awful, but have read that it's the best choice purely for growing potential.


In the end I might buy Pool Sand (because it's cheap) and one of the others and try mixing them or keeping one as a backup in case I change my mind about which to go with.
I would really appreciate any opinions from the experts here though so please feel free to help me make up my mind

EDIT: just in case it's relevant to which substrate I should pick, I'll be using 20 watts of fluro lighting and some kind of [acronym:3a8b650afb="Do it yourself"]DIY[/acronym:3a8b650afb] or cheapie-commercial [acronym:3a8b650afb="Carbon dioxide"]CO2[/acronym:3a8b650afb] kit.

[tetrin]

i'm no expert in any way...but i do love to give advice... ..
an 8g might have too small a height for you to work with...
as i forsee it, as you get your tank going with good lighting, co2 and a good substrate (even play sand)...you are going to have a tough time pruning stem plants...unless you choose all slow-growers...
aargh...enough babbling...

coming back to the main issue...i was reading about amano setting up a tank in US during one of his visits...and he used black onyx sand as the substrate...and he chose from a whole bunch of them... ...

[malkore]

playsand can work, but you'll need to be careful about vaccuming the surface, and you'll need to watch out for anaerobic pockets forming in the sand (basically, use something like chopsticks to stir the sand up once a month in areas where there are no plant roots). Sand has no nutrients in it, so you'll definitely need root tabs for many types of plants.

Also, 20watts isn't gonna put you into a true high light category. [acronym:c28f9b6da5="Carbon dioxide"]CO2[/acronym:c28f9b6da5] should still be used, but you're likely going to lack enough intensity for plants like glosso. The whole watts per gallon rule breaks down in really small and really large tanks.

[bzbee]

Just be prepared to rinse your playsand thoroughly, especially if it's very fine. And when you think it's rinsed enough, rinse it some more!!! I have a 75G (soon-to-be) planted community (once I get my cannister filter) and added some playsand to see what the gravel/sand mix would look like. I rinsed the sand for an hour and thought I got it to a point where the water was pretty clear. I added it to the empty tank and covered it with plastic bags before I filled it, and slowly poured water into a bowl inside the aquarium, and the sand STILL clouded up my whole tank. The worst part is, the sediments did settle, but left a white film of sediment over my gravel. I hear that you'll have less problems with the other two [acronym:d5869ded49="Local Fish Store"]LFS[/acronym:d5869ded49] bought substrates, but I've not used either.

[Bosk]

Originally Posted by malkore

playsand can work, but you'll need to be careful about vaccuming the surface, and you'll need to watch out for anaerobic pockets forming in the sand (basically, use something like chopsticks to stir the sand up once a month in areas where there are no plant roots). Sand has no nutrients in it, so you'll definitely need root tabs for many types of plants.

Also, 20watts isn't gonna put you into a true high light category. [acronym:a60fdc5c2b="Carbon dioxide"]CO2[/acronym:a60fdc5c2b] should still be used, but you're likely going to lack enough intensity for plants like glosso. The whole watts per gallon rule breaks down in really small and really large tanks.

Are you saying that by using Pool Sand I would need to use root tabs but that I could skip them if I used Onyx Sand or Flourite?
Incidentally, do root tabs need to be replaced after a certain period?

Regarding lightning, I should be able to buy a stronger fluro globe for the light I'm using, how many watts do you think I'd want for my 8 gallon tank?

Cheers.

[czcz]

Avoid globe or spiral screw-in flourescents if possible, and invest in ballast and proper reflector if it will fit, if you want heavily planted high light. For example, in my tank ludwigia repens is much redder and pearling happens faster after turn-on of 2*13w [acronym:93b4dfeb87="Compact Fluorescent Light"]CFL[/acronym:93b4dfeb87] with ballast and proper reflector (AHSupply.com) than 2*23w screw-in spiral [acronym:93b4dfeb87="Compact Fluorescent Light"]CFL[/acronym:93b4dfeb87] and painted white hood. Glosso didn't spread quickly under previous lights (grew vertically, which I trimmed and replanted), but already see new growth from runners with new lights. Tank volume is also 8g -- just keep this in mind when looking for light requirements of plants.

Seachem [acronym:93b4dfeb87="Frequently asked questions"]FAQ[/acronym:93b4dfeb87] says both flourite and onyx are rich in nutrients. Onyx has carbonates and that may factor in your decision.

[acronym:93b4dfeb87="Hope this helps (or) Happy to help"]HTH[/acronym:93b4dfeb87]

[Bosk]

Originally Posted by czcz

Avoid globe or spiral screw-in flourescents if possible, and invest in ballast and proper reflector if it will fit, if you want heavily planted high light. For example, in my tank ludwigia repens is much redder and pearling happens faster after turn-on of 2*13w [acronym:e4c1224e1a="Compact Fluorescent Light"]CFL[/acronym:e4c1224e1a] with ballast and proper reflector (AHSupply.com) than 2*23w screw-in spiral [acronym:e4c1224e1a="Compact Fluorescent Light"]CFL[/acronym:e4c1224e1a] and painted white hood. Glosso didn't spread quickly under previous lights (grew vertically, which I trimmed and replanted), but already see new growth from runners with new lights. Tank volume is also 8g -- just keep this in mind when looking for light requirements of plants.

Seachem [acronym:e4c1224e1a="Frequently asked questions"]FAQ[/acronym:e4c1224e1a] says both flourite and onyx are rich in nutrients. Onyx has carbonates and that may factor in your decision.

[acronym:e4c1224e1a="Hope this helps (or) Happy to help"]HTH[/acronym:e4c1224e1a]

Thanks for the information!

Actually I'm not sure exactly what kind of fluro I have at the moment, I bought one of these: http://www.aquaria.com.au/catalog/pr...oducts_id/6706

From what you said though it sounds like 30-40 watts would suit me best, would that be correct?

Oh, and I love your 8 gallon tank it has a really great natural style to it

[czcz]

Thanks I'm pretty sure your new [acronym:c1f8bdd45b="Normal Output Fluorescents"]NO[/acronym:c1f8bdd45b] 20w fixture will put as much or more light in your tank than my old set-up (2*23w screw-ins w/o real reflector). I misunderstood "globe" as a spherical screw-in [acronym:c1f8bdd45b="Compact Fluorescent Light"]CFL[/acronym:c1f8bdd45b].

[travis simonson]

Of the three types of substrate you're looking at I like the Onyx Sand the best. Root tabs will not be necessary because it is high in nutrients already. Heavy root feeding plants like swords and Cryptorcorynes may require some additional supplementation but most plants will take to it right away. And I'm with you on the Flourite, I just don't like the way it looks. Play sand will also work very well, but like Malkore said, you'll need to supplement it with root tabs to achieve good results.

And with small (<20G) tanks it is best to err on the side of too much rather than too little light. Shoot for 3+ [acronym:a2ee2a718b="Watts Per Gallon"]wpg[/acronym:a2ee2a718b] if you want to grow carpet plants like Glosso and Riccia and you should be OK.

And I love your tanks czcz - very nice work

[czcz]

Thanks, Travis. I use yours and advisor's plant health as targets/goals. Baby steps... baby steps... so many steps...