substrate

[beglely]

I have pool filter sand at the ready but i want to add a layer beneath the sand that is a litte more nutrient rich so I dont really have to dose ferts that much. I know flourite is good but isnt it essentially a hard form of clay gravel so to say? If so is it possible to use clay extracted from dirt around the house or a lake possibly (I can see lake being a problem since pesticides and other weed killers are deposited on a regular basis for all the non-fishing people)? I ask this cause I have a large deposit of clay dirt in certain spots around my house and wonder if this could possibly work the same as flourite? just curious if anyone has heard of this or knows about this? Just curious

 

[HN1]

Clay itself is not nutrient rich at all, it just holds nutrients. If you're using PFS and don't want to dose ferts, I'd suggest root tabs. Nor would I trust anything that's been in my yard to go into my tank. Too many chances of contaminants IMO.

 

[beglely]

haha yeah thats what i figured. thanks

 

[mgamer20o0]

there are ways to enrich a bottom layer of sand. the only problem with layering is if your new or like me like to move things around a lot no matter how much you try your going to kick some of that up into the water. if all the stuff gets into the water it may cause algae out breaks.