Dark substrate or light substrate?

[PB_Smith]

my little desktop ten gallon taken just now.

 

[Caliban07]

Wow I bet those fish are super comfortable in there. Loads of stuff to keep them busy and secure.


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[PB_Smith]

here is the filter I made for it.
It has about three inches of filter floss, two layers of filter pad material with 250 ml of Purigen sandwiched in between, another 2-3 inches of filter pad and then 1.5 liters of Matrix, 1.5 liters of De-Nitrate, about 5 pounds of small lava rock powered by a little in-line pump that is pushing about 150-175 gph through it.

plus the tank also has a DIY built in filter and an undergravel filter.

you guys think I should increase the filtration or is that enough?

 

[Ricky 1]

Your tank look great, nice and fresh Roccus

 

[Ricky 1]

Ok guys, I have a couple of nice photos I took with my iPad but have no idea how to get them on here. As far as I have gotten is to mail them to myself. If someone could send me a link or explain one step at a time I will get them up. Thanks.


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I think you have to go through photo bucket but not sure with ipad.....

 

[Ricky 1]

Very nice tank PB, I am off to get more plants tomorrow.........

 

[Ricky 1]

here is the filter I made for it.
It has about three inches of filter floss, two layers of filter pad material with 250 ml of Purigen sandwiched in between, another 2-3 inches of filter pad and then 1.5 liters of Matrix, 1.5 liters of De-Nitrate, about 5 pounds of small lava rock powered by a little in-line pump that is pushing about 150-175 gph through it.

plus the tank also has a DIY built in filter and an undergravel filter.

you guys think I should increase the filtration or is that enough?

ha ha ha ha

 

[Fresh2o]

Ok guys, I have a couple of nice photos I took with my iPad but have no idea how to get them on here. As far as I have gotten is to mail them to myself. If someone could send me a link or explain one step at a time I will get them up. Thanks.


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Using the mobile app and an Apple device...
When posting a reply to a thread, there will be a few icons at the bottom of the screen:
The camera icon allows you to take a picture and post it
The icon that looks like a scene with a mountain and a sun (or moon) will access your Photo library. Select a picture or pictures and include it with your message.


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[fishliker]

My 55 gallon tank with the black sand.


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[fishliker]

Thanks to Fresh2o for helping me with the pic. I put the floating plants all on one side to hopefully give the 3 pearl gourami a place to get away from the swift moving congo tetras.


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[Ricky 1]

Tank looks very nice FL; I am off to buy some plants tomorrow......

 

[Caliban07]

For those still following I've made the switch. This is the smallest black gravel I could find and I love it.

The fish look much more colourful in sure you will agree. I can't believe how much light the white sand reflected. The tank is still cloudy from the switch so I'll post one more picture after it's cleared up and I'll clean the front glass properly but here is the difference.

Just need a few more plants dotted around now and I'm good. Hope the fish feel tons safer and less stressed. Thanks to all who advised.


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[Fishobsessed7]

Looks great!


Fishobsessed7

 

[Caliban07]

Looks great!


Fishobsessed7

Thanks! I can finally relax now...anyone want some free sand? Lol.


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[trennamw]

I really like the white Aquarium sand I found, once I mixed some gravel in ... I have a lower light tank and in outside gardening I learned a lighter mulch helped "sun" plants do ok in shade.

I painted the background black as you see. I like the contrast and find my fish color up nicely. There's no visible difference between them and their cohorts I've seen in a black sand blue background tank.

My Otos were out front all the time when decorated as below, but when I went to a lighter room, and pulled the big fake wood thing out of the center and put in a rock arrangement off center, they started to hide though there were more plants.

I think substrate choice really depends on the overall design.

I haven't had trouble with it staying clean looking. I feed New Life Spectrum and good quality food means less poop. I also have a lot of ghost shrimp and Malaysian trumpet snails that pick apart the detritus. I very rarely gravel vac, when I do it doesn't take long to learn the technique to not suck up too much sand.

I don't like play or pool filter sand, the bright white is my fav. And the LFS advises it doesn't have silicates which promote brown algae.

The MT snails are a critical part of having sand IMO.

I had a high light with black gravel and didn't like it at all. Every speck of poo sparkled in the sunlight so to speak.


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[fishliker]

Looks very nice. I like how you have used the rocks, I may have to go get more rocks!


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[trennamw]

Sent from my iPhone with three hands tied behind my back.

 

[fishliker]

Trenn... Very nice too! Fun to look see all the different tanks.


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[PB_Smith]

For those still following I've made the switch. This is the smallest black gravel I could find and I love it.

 

[Caliban07]

Looks very nice. I like how you have used the rocks, I may have to go get more rocks!


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Yeh they come at a price though! I'm going to get rid of the green ball and use more rocks


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