Subrate Help

[zgibbs]

Hello Everyone,

I will be moving into my house soon which means that I will setting up a 20g long planted aquarium, which I had planted before but I moved so I had to take it down. I currently have a planted 5 gallon tank running for a year now with lots of algae problems, which is very discouraging. Through this process I have learned that I still have a ton of learning yet to do. I would like to get some opinions and a better understanding of substrate and what to use.

Equipment: Finnext Planted+ Filter AC5o or a canister, I have yet to decide between the two.

My question is: What substrate is best for a low tech set up? I have read that soil can lead to algae problems early on, which could be why my 5g is overrun by it or my tank isn't planted heavy enough to absorb the nutrients. So is there a better option like ECO complete or florite to avoid major algae issues? If I go with ECO complete do I need to cap it with something?

My other question is: What makes ECO Complete/similar product better than soil? Pros and Cons to the different substrates.

Thanks for the help. I really enjoy this hobby, but am rather discouraged at the moment and looking for the best path to take to bolster my love for this hobby.

 

[Bert2oo1]

Hello Everyone,

I will be moving into my house soon which means that I will setting up a 20g long planted aquarium, which I had planted before but I moved so I had to take it down. I currently have a planted 5 gallon tank running for a year now with lots of algae problems, which is very discouraging. Through this process I have learned that I still have a ton of learning yet to do. I would like to get some opinions and a better understanding of substrate and what to use.

Equipment: Finnext Planted+ Filter AC5o or a canister, I have yet to decide between the two.

My question is: What substrate is best for a low tech set up? I have read that soil can lead to algae problems early on, which could be why my 5g is overrun by it or my tank isn't planted heavy enough to absorb the nutrients. So is there a better option like ECO complete or florite to avoid major algae issues? If I go with ECO complete do I need to cap it with something?

My other question is: What makes ECO Complete/similar product better than soil? Pros and Cons to the different substrates.

Thanks for the help. I really enjoy this hobby, but am rather discouraged at the moment and looking for the best path to take to bolster my love for this hobby.

Nothing beats soil in my opinion. I run soil topped with Eco. If u set up the tank and drain it 4-5 times over and run it without fish untill the cycle is finished u shouldn't have algae dramas. Your algae is most likely caused by too much light or lack of ferts.

Ada is a good choice if u can't be bothered with soil remember plant heavy and start low with your lighting and work your way up.

Also if u can afford pressurised co2 then i highly recommend it. Makes life a lot easier.

 

[zgibbs]

Thanks for the reply. I'll try capping it with ECO. I am running the same light on my 5g for 7 hrs a day. I cut that back to 6 hrs and I have noticed that the algae has stopped spreading. I have also cut feeding back to every other day. I have a couple root tabs for the dwarf sag and crypts. I haven't really used any other ferts. I might pick a bottle of Flourish and start dosing that.

I've been going back and forth on whether or not I want to get into co2. My thought is that I should try and maintain a tank for a decently long time with out any major issues before I dive into a co2 system.

 

[Bert2oo1]

Thanks for the reply. I'll try capping it with ECO. I am running the same light on my 5g for 7 hrs a day. I cut that back to 6 hrs and I have noticed that the algae has stopped spreading. I have also cut feeding back to every other day. I have a couple root tabs for the dwarf sag and crypts. I haven't really used any other ferts. I might pick a bottle of Flourish and start dosing that.

I've been going back and forth on whether or not I want to get into co2. My thought is that I should try and maintain a tank for a decently long time with out any major issues before I dive into a co2 system.

Fair call on the co2, yea finnex fixtures are pretty intense in smaller tanks so keep it low and dose excel as recommended. U shouldn't need tabs if your running soil, that has enough nutrients to keep it the plants happy have u thought about dosing low light PPS pro dry salts? No need for micro's if u have soil but the macro mix's are really cheap and work really well it's best to fertilise at both the roots and the water column

 

[zgibbs]

Fair call on the co2, yea finnex fixtures are pretty intense in smaller tanks so keep it low and dose excel as recommended. U shouldn't need tabs if your running soil, that has enough nutrients to keep it the plants happy have u thought about dosing low light PPS pro dry salts? No need for micro's if u have soil but the macro mix's are really cheap and work really well it's best to fertilise at both the roots and the water column

I haven't heard of the PPS pro dry salts. I'll have to look into them before I set up my new tank.

As for the excel, when is the best time during the light cycle to dose that? I have the lights come on at 1 and turn off at 7. I leave my house at 8am and I don't get back till sometime between 530 and 6pm.

 

[Bert2oo1]

Just dose before u leave for work they plants won't use it untill the lights come on

Yea PPS pro is a great method, it uses kno3, kh2po4, kso4 as the NPK fertilizers (nitrogen, phosphate, potassium) also a GH booster containing abit of calcium and magnesium is a good idea aswell unless u have hard water from the tap.

 

[zgibbs]

Just dose before u leave for work they plants won't use it untill the lights come on

Yea PPS pro is a great method, it uses kno3, kh2po4, kso4 as the NPK fertilizers (nitrogen, phosphate, potassium) also a GH booster containing abit of calcium and magnesium is a good idea aswell unless u have hard water from the tap.

Ok thanks. My new house will have well water so it should be softer than tap water.

I was looking up the PPS stuff. Is Green Leaf a good place to get it from?

 

[toolman]

I recently started pps-pro from NilocG. I'm very happy with them after 1month.

 

[zgibbs]

I recently started pps-pro from NilocG. I'm very happy with them after 1month.

Ok ill take a look at them too. Is the dosing regiment the same as EI?

 

[Fresh2o]

Ok ill take a look at them too. Is the dosing regiment the same as EI?

I think what makes PPS-Pro different is that you dose the macros and micros daily and not in some type of alternate day fashion.
Green Leaf Aquariums also offers a PPS-Pro kit.

 

[zgibbs]

I think what makes PPS-Pro different is that you dose the macros and micros daily and not in some type of alternate day fashion.
Green Leaf Aquariums also offers a PPS-Pro kit.

Oh ok. Well before I start my new tank I'll buy some PPS ferts. Well I guess I could get them now to help my current tank.

 

[Bert2oo1]

Oh ok. Well before I start my new tank I'll buy some PPS ferts. Well I guess I could get them now to help my current tank.

Yea it's a good idea, PPS pro take a leaner approach to dosing where as EI provides unlimited nutrients to the plants. Those extra nutrients are just wasted unless your heavily planted that's why I've suggested going with PPS over EI

 

[zgibbs]

Yea it's a good idea, PPS pro take a leaner approach to dosing where as EI provides unlimited nutrients to the plants. Those extra nutrients are just wasted unless your heavily planted that's why I've suggested going with PPS over EI

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll be sure to pick some up.

 

[dcutl002]

Yea it's a good idea, PPS pro take a leaner approach to dosing where as EI provides unlimited nutrients to the plants. Those extra nutrients are just wasted unless your heavily planted that's why I've suggested going with PPS over EI

I use aquarium waste water on all of my wife's outside potted plants and flower bed plants. Everything is green! One way to not waste fertilizer I guess.

 

[zgibbs]

I use aquarium waste water on all of my wife's outside potted plants and flower bed plants. Everything is green! One way to not waste fertilizer I guess.

Haha thats a good idea. Be a great way to water a garden!

 

[zgibbs]

Yea it's a good idea, PPS pro take a leaner approach to dosing where as EI provides unlimited nutrients to the plants. Those extra nutrients are just wasted unless your heavily planted that's why I've suggested going with PPS over EI

I was reading the dosing instructions on green Leaf's website and they say to use distilled water or RO water. Is that just for mixing? Since they are saying to use that kind of water, does that mean that I should not use my house water to mix the fertilizer?

 

[Bert2oo1]

I was reading the dosing instructions on green Leaf's website and they say to use distilled water or RO water. Is that just for mixing? Since they are saying to use that kind of water, does that mean that I should not use my house water to mix the fertilizer?

It's best to mix up the ferts in RO water but u can use your house water if it's fairly soft. I've used my house water before but it's only 40tds from the tap (very soft). The extra metals in your house water like iron etc can bind to the phosphate in the macro solution making it useless.

Safest to use RO. U can get it from the hardware store for cheap and a 500ml bottle of PPS pro macro should last u easily a few month

 

[dcutl002]

Right. Use only Distilled water or RO water for mixing. I just buy the distilled water at the grocery store.

 

[zgibbs]

It's best to mix up the ferts in RO water but u can use your house water if it's fairly soft. I've used my house water before but it's only 40tds from the tap (very soft). The extra metals in your house water like iron etc can bind to the phosphate in the macro solution making it useless.

Safest to use RO. U can get it from the hardware store for cheap and a 500ml bottle of PPS pro macro should last u easily a few month

Thanks!

 

[zgibbs]

Right. Use only Distilled water or RO water for mixing. I just buy the distilled water at the grocery store.

Thanks!