Substrate help/advice please!

[menotakoala]

So I've been lucky to receive from my uncle a completely established tank. My uncle decided that he would plant it before giving it to me. However, I'm not sure if the substrate that was already in the tank is suitable for planted or not. Can someone please take a look and advise me please?



All the lights except for the final hour LED were off for this one and it was late at night but I have my finger there as a reference as to just how big the substrate material is.

 

[fort384]

Unfortunately, several of the plants you have are not aquatic. They will not survive under water. The type of substrate won't really matter for them... in a few months they will start to rot and die, and will cause water quality issues. Dracena sanderiana are the green/white leaved plants (non-aquatic), and I am not sure about the long leaf green plants behind them... they look as though they might be non aquatic as well, but would need a close up of the leaves and the bottoms of the plants to be sure.

Pretty much any substrate will work for most low light aquatic plants... what kind of light do you have over the tank? For higher light more delicate plants, a finer substrate like sand works well, and they make special substrate for plants that can be very beneficial (although they tend to be expensive, and aren't required for success).

 

[menotakoala]

Unfortunately, several of the plants you have are not aquatic. They will not survive under water. The type of substrate won't really matter for them... in a few months they will start to rot and die, and will cause water quality issues. Dracena sanderiana are the green/white leaved plants (non-aquatic), and I am not sure about the long leaf green plants behind them... they look as though they might be non aquatic as well, but would need a close up of the leaves and the bottoms of the plants to be sure.

Pretty much any substrate will work for most low light aquatic plants... what kind of light do you have over the tank? For higher light more delicate plants, a finer substrate like sand works well, and they make special substrate for plants that can be very beneficial (although they tend to be expensive, and aren't required for success).

So I went ahead and pulled out the Dracena sanderiana and did notice that they had indeed began to rot. And I looked more carefully at the plants in the back and did notice that they were beginning to rot as well and had them pulled out as well. As far as lighting goes, there are two 55W CF bulbs for a combined total of 110W. They're the ones where one half of the CF is actinic. Color is 10,000K. Right now I have a timer set up on both bulbs. Both are set to run for 5 hours at overlapping time periods. So I'll have one come on then 2 hours later, the other one turns on. After an hour, the first one turns off, and two hours after the other one turns off. And then I have my moonlight LEDs come on for two hours starting on the last hour the CF is on. I hope that made sense.

Now then that said, I have roughly 2.2W per gallon that I am dealing with. Which I am aware as being right around the ballpark for high lighting and I would assume that the plants that should go into the tank should be of plants that require that much lighting. Am I right? If so, would that mean that with the substrate that is currently available is the wrong type to use? And if it is wrong, is it too late to change out the substrate?

I know I'm asking a lot of questions, but please bare with me as this is the first time I'm working with a planted tank making me a to planted tanks.

 

[fort384]

You actually only have 55w of usable light for you plants which would be low light. The actinic side of the bulbs does nothing for plant growth. The 10000k will work fine for growing plants however.

If you swap the bulbs for some 6500k or straight 10000k I would call it medium light at that point. CF bulbs aren't the best solution for getting to high light over a midsized aquarium. They are great for small tanks, but I prefer t5ho over mid and large sized tanks.

 

[BigJim]

+1 for fort's advice.

Here's a pretty good list of non-aqutic plants: PlantGeek.net - Plant Guide Keep it handy when you're looking for replacements.

You could replace the dracena with either small sword plants or hygrophila and the spiky plants with vals to mimic the current look.

You could mix some sand with the gravel to give the plants a better foothold.

 

[menotakoala]

You actually only have 55w of usable light for you plants which would be low light. The actinic side of the bulbs does nothing for plant growth. The 10000k will work fine for growing plants however.

If you swap the bulbs for some 6500k or straight 10000k I would call it medium light at that point. CF bulbs aren't the best solution for getting to high light over a midsized aquarium. They are great for small tanks, but I prefer t5ho over mid and large sized tanks.

Thanks for all of your advice fort. The tank is by Jebo and is one of those curved front tanks and I don't think the hood will accommodate a T5HO unless I did some modding around. So for this FW tank do you recommend that I swap out the bulbs for straight 10,000K without the actinic?

+1 for fort's advice.

Here's a pretty good list of non-aqutic plants: PlantGeek.net - Plant Guide Keep it handy when you're looking for replacements.

You could replace the dracena with either small sword plants or hygrophila and the spiky plants with vals to mimic the current look.

You could mix some sand with the gravel to give the plants a better foothold.

Jim, thank you so much for providing that link. I will be sure to keep it handy with me at all times on my phone. You said that I could mix some sand. Is there a type of sand you recommend? I am aware that some sands can change water conditions.

 

[BigJim]

Stay away from aragonite or anything marketed for african cichlids or saltwater.

To be honest, all my sand has come from either Menards or Home Depot:

Quickrete Play Sand - $3 for 50lb - tan - needs lots of washing
Quickrete Medium Sand - $3 for 50lb - white - needs very little washing
Black Blast blasting compound - $8 for 50lb - black - needs very little washing

I'm far too cheap to pay for Tahitian Moon Sand or anything else the LFS carries.

 

[fort384]

Bulbs depend on what you want to grow. The current bulbs you have might do fine with low light plants. If you swap the 50/50s for straight 10000 or 6500k you would expand the available plant choices significantly but there also might be the added requirement of supplementing the tank with a few different fertilizers.

 

[menotakoala]

Stay away from aragonite or anything marketed for african cichlids or saltwater.

To be honest, all my sand has come from either Menards or Home Depot:

Quickrete Play Sand - $3 for 50lb - tan - needs lots of washing
Quickrete Medium Sand - $3 for 50lb - white - needs very little washing
Black Blast blasting compound - $8 for 50lb - black - needs very little washing

I'm far too cheap to pay for Tahitian Moon Sand or anything else the LFS carries.

Looks like I'll be getting some Black Blast blasting compound.

Bulbs depend on what you want to grow. The current bulbs you have might do fine with low light plants. If you swap the 50/50s for straight 10000 or 6500k you would expand the available plant choices significantly but there also might be the added requirement of supplementing the tank with a few different fertilizers.

Thanks fort. Any fertilizers you recommend me mixing with the Black Blast blasting compound?

 

[BigJim]

If I were to redo any of my planted tanks, I would throw a layer of laterite down under the substrate.

 

[menotakoala]

If I were to redo any of my planted tanks, I would throw a layer of laterite down under the substrate.

Do you think it would be okay to redo my tank while the fish are still in it?

 

[BigJim]

Take them out and put them in buckets for a little while. You could easily hurt the fish moving everything around, not to mention the stress.

 

[menotakoala]

Take them out and put them in buckets for a little while. You could easily hurt the fish moving everything around, not to mention the stress.

Thanks for all your help Jim. I think I'll move my RCS to my 5G refuge tank during the transition. Looks like I'll be working on this after my finals are completed next week. Thanks again for all of your advice!