What Substrate and How Much?

[martonic]

Hi - I am looking to set up a "lightly planted" 55-gallon tank with fish. What substrate do I need, and how much of it?

Laterite was recommended on another site.

However, my LFS doesn't carry laterite. Instead, they suggest "florabase" substrate at $39.95 per 12 pounds, recommending 12 pounds per 10 gallons, so my 55 gallon tank would take 60 pounds of substrate at a cost of $200 plus tax - not what I was looking to spend for that!

Any suggestions?

[Jchillin]

Yeah, that is a bit pricey. You can lower your costs by mixing the laterite with regular pea sized gravel, which is sort of what I did although I used Shultz Aquasoil as my mix).

[Fishyfanatic]

I am moving this topic to the Planted Tanks forum. We have many plant guru's that can help you out over here.

[Gundy]

I was lookin at getting some flourite for my 55 as well, but at around 5-6 bags the price sorta turned me away. Something was being discussed about SMS soil or something? I don't really have any information on it.

Hopefully some people will chime in with what they use in larger tanks.

[travis74]

eco-complete can be had for $20-25 for 20# and aquariumplants.com has there own substrate for the planted tank also. Maybe someone who has used that will let us know what they thought of it. I would check your LFS for eco and then do an internet price check.

[jsoong]

I use Schultz Aquasoil as well, costs about $10 per bag at my local home improvement superstore (look in the pond section, or garden center with the pond plants). I would need 4-6 bags to cover my entire tank. You want about a 3-4" deep layer.

If you are lightly planted, you can save some $ by having substrate only where your plants are. In my case, I divided the bottom of my tank into sections (you can use acrylic stripes siliconed in place). Planted sections get the plant substrate, the rest pea gravel from the garden center (at $2 a cu foot!). Another alternative is to have your plants in pots with substrate. Bury the pots in pea gravel & you are done.

One thing about Schultz aquasoil is that it has no fertilizers in it (as opposed to the other plant substrates), so you need some root ferts right away. Laterite is supposed to be a good source of iron. People just put little balls of it next to their plants. I can find laterite at my local BigAl's (they sell on line as well).

There are recipes on the net using sand, sand/peat/soil mix, etc. A sand only substrate prob works the same as Schultz aquasoil. But even if you use coarse sand, there will be fine particles that will be messy for quite a while. Plus sand may pack down & create anaerobic pockets (unless you have some MTS for aeration, or lots of plant roots to open up the sand). I experimented with some of the soil/peat mixes on the net & it is VERY messy, but I suppose it will work if you give it long enough time to settle out (month?).

[Glenc]

I'm using Turface MVP in my 75 and now my 125. I have used Eco in a couple of smaller tanks, great stuff, just to pricey for my taste, especially in a bigger tank. Turface is cheap but effective, a little goes a long way. It comes in 50 lb bags, I used a bag and a half in my 125, 5" deep at the back down to 2" in front. A 50 lbs runs about 30 bucks. You would only need one bag for a 55. It is also light, doesn't add a ton of weight to your already heavy tank.
Only drawbacks, it's very dusty when you rinse it, and because it's light, it is easily blown around by bigger fish. I've been using it in my 75 for a year now, plants love it.

[JustOneMore20]

Assuming you are in the US, Soilmaster Select is much like Turface and is about $15 for 50lbs. You can find a local Lesco at http://www.lesco.com. It comes in a charcoal and a reddish/brown color.

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

I found the original Email for the Turface when I picked it up, 14$/50lbs. (I had to pick up 400lbs because of a minimum order issue). I thought it was a higher price, but I guess not. (extra makes an excellent kitty litter ) 75lbs is enough for 8sq feet @ 3-4" deep.

[neilanh]

I second the aquasoil. Lowe's sells it for $6/10 pounds.