substrate question

[Hatty]

I currenly have plain black aquarium gravel as a substrate. In my tank I am growing anacharis and am looking to get dwarf hairgrass. I am using diy co2 and no fertilizers. I have seen flourite aquarium gravel and have been told it is very good. My question is do you think its worth replacing or adding to my plain gravel with this fertilizer substrate or is it just a waste of time and money? If you think it's a good idea, in what way will it change my water quality. My ph is already low and I really don't want it to drop. That wont be very good for the fish currently in the tank.

Thanks in advance.

 

[fort384]

Hairgrass really needs a finer substrate than plain aquarium gravel to really spread out in a carpet effect. It wouldn't necessarily have to be specialized plant substrate... even pool filter sand would be better than gravel. It might grow, but it won't grow as close together. The specialized substrates are expensive... but they are also effective. I have had tremendous experiences with ADA aquasoil and flourite both. I have seen a lot of very positive reviews on eco complete and even fluval's new substrate. I think if you want to have a compact growing carpet plant, it would be worth to bucks to go with a specialty substrate.

 

[Hatty]

Does flourite change the water chemistry a lot? Since I have fish in my aquarium I don't want to stress them too much.

Also, how thick of a layer would you recommend?

 

[Crepe]

No..it doesn't alter the water chemistry significantly. I've noticed a slight increase in pH with Floramax (which is larger grained eco comp basically).

I just started using fluval's stratum...good stuff..so far. It's buffered my near 8ph water to a lovely 6.8. The stuff is a bugger to plant in. It's light as air. Get a good pair of tweezers, some smooth jazz, a good glass of drink and a weekend and you'll be raring to go though.

edit: it's also more expensive than even ADA Aquasoil. So if you're on a budget yo ucan try mineralized topsoil, fluorite(needs root tabs), ecocomplete (needs root tabs as well) or even pfs and some root tabs.

 

[zach_1_6]

Eco-complete has some large grains in it aswell so keep that in mind. As for hairgrass, both flourite and Eco-comp should work fine, fluorite makes a big mess though, and Eco- complete makes your water a bit cloudy some times ( well in my tank it did ) anyways both fluorite and Eco-comp are great to use!