Substrate Question

[Blacksteel]

I am new to plants and I am starting up my first planted tank which is 29 gallons. Right now I have regular earthy colored aquarium gravel. I was told this could mess up water parameters from releasing silicates but not sure how reliable the source is. I was thinking about switching to PFS.

My question is will this gravel mess with the parameters and would PFS be better or is it all just about viewing preference between these two substrates?

 

[rich311k]

If the earthy colored stuff is normal aquarium gravel then it will not mess with your parameters. The choice between gravel and sand really is aesthetics. For planting you do want a smaller grain size, Normal aquarium gravel will work. If you think you may want to go for a fancy planted tank, consider a substrate design for use in planted tanks.

 

[Blacksteel]

What kind of substrate would be designed for planted tanks? I'm new at planted tanks. And I'm not trying to male this tank too fancy just yet because I'm just trying to get started on keeping plants to get some experience.

 

[rich311k]

There is Ecocomplete, Flourite as well as others. They come in several colors and do a nice job,

 

[Blacksteel]

Are they considered fertilizers or are they just substrate? What makes them good for plants?

 

[rich311k]

They are substrates, they are not fertilizers but do provide a good planting medium and over time become enriched from fish wastes etc. I have found better growth in my tanks with Eco then in my tanks with gravel.

 

[Blacksteel]

Oh ok sounds good. Where do you find these substrates? I don't think ive ever seen them in petsmart/petco but I could be wrong?

 

[mfdrookie516]

Petsmart, at least mine, carries Flourite and Floramax. Floramax is very similar to eco complete, it's actually pretty much the same stuff without the bacteria that the eco complete has.

You can use PFS though if you want to. It works perfectly fine. The darker colored substrates do look better though, IMO.

 

[BlackMagic]

Only some petco carry them, its once in a blue moon.
You can order it from petco.com

Ppl r turning to dirt when it come down to plant tank,
It's easy and save urself ton of money.$3 a bag on soil, $8 a bag of pfs
Total of $13 w/tax.
Buying Eco is $20 a bag of 15lbs.

 

[Blacksteel]

Ya the tank I has came with gravel but I'm thinking of switching it. Would you need dirt and PFS? or just PFS by itself would be fine?

Also darker substrate does sound like it will look better. I have to look into how much that costs around here.

 

[BlackMagic]

Depends on what kinda plant you wanna keep, plant like java moss n java fern wouldn't need plant substrate, both plant can suck up fish waste as food.
If u want root plant u will have to use some kinda plant substrate.
IMO soil grow plant better, I have use top soil n Eco complete.
My plant in my top soil top was more green, BTW my top soil tank was half salt, half fresh. And most plant won't do to well in it n yet my plant was more green.
This is y I'm cleaning up my Eco complete n changing it to soil.

 

[pantherspawn]

I use a combo of eco complete, sand and small pea gravel in my tank.. works well and looks very natural. The plants root amazingly quick and the eco has minerals that the plants will use when first planting to help them take hold quicker.