Driftwood and Substrate advice

[sjsuper76]

I just ordered some fell malaysian driftwood for my 55 gallon tank.

While I wait for that to arrive and then soak (for a week?) I would like to start looking for substrate.

Can I use Pool Filter Sand in a planted tank? Or should I go with the black substrate like EcoComplete? (I thought a white substrate would make my fish and plants "pop" more, but everything I am reading on here says black actually does that?)

I do not plan on setting up a CO2 system yet. I would like to plant some Java Ferns, Moss and maybe some Crypts or Chain Swords. (I would welcome any specific recommendations here, the previous sentence represents the bulk of my knowledge on aquatic plants so far.)

My current lighting is a single flourescent bulb that came with the stock hood. I need recommendations for this as well...can I keep this, or do I need to buy a new hood/bulb?

thanks for all the help, you guys are awesome.

Scott

 

[Deep Seven]

If you're going to stick with low light plants like the Java Moss and Java fern, you can probably get away with just getting a good bulb. You don't really need CO² at that level. If you really want to get into some of the med-high light plants, then you'll want to plan an upgrade to a better hood/light system for when you add them, and then CO² soon after.

Animals will often try to blend in with their background. White bottom can promote more of a faded look, while black can bring on deeper, richer colours.

While not always necessary, a planted substrate like eco-complete will reduce how much and often you may need to fertilize. If you want to use a non-planted substrate, and want to grow med-high light plants, I'd suggest looking into Laterite. You spread it in a thin layer before adding your substrate and it helps feed the plants over the long term.

 

[mudraker]

Do beware that it will take much more than a week to leach the tannins from the driftwood.

 

[sjsuper76]

How long should I soak the wood for?

Is there anything else I should do before putting them in the tank?

 

[mudraker]

Boiling is great to help speed up the leaching.

 

[Rebel1970]

I was told by a plant specialist to use pea gravel and you can buy that at Home Depot or Lowe's for $3.90 for 30 pounds so I bought 3 bags for my 75 gallon tank.
Remember wash it in a 5 gallon bucket prior to adding it to your tank rinse it till the water runs clear!!!

 

[Rebel1970]

You can also boil the driftwood to speed up the leaching process as well.

 

[mudraker]

Pea gravel can work real well in a lowlight setting, but when its fresh, there will be no nutrients for the plants.

 

[mudraker]

To make sure the wood is done leaching, check the ph of the water before adding the wood to the bucket, or whatever you are going to leach it in. If it discolors the water, keep changing the water and boiling the driftwood whenever you have time. Periodically check the ph of your tap water against the water the wood is leaching in until it matches up for 24 or more hours.

Its a long process, but worth the wait.

 

[ChizerBunoi]

+2 for boiling the driftwood.

As for the substrate, it depends whether you like the white look or the black look. Most of the high tech ADG aquascapes you see use pool filter sand. Just sure your dosing properly for the type of plants you get if you are running co2.

 

[mgamer20o0]

I was told by a plant specialist to use pea gravel and you can buy that at Home Depot or Lowe's for $3.90 for 30 pounds so I bought 3 bags for my 75 gallon tank.
Remember wash it in a 5 gallon bucket prior to adding it to your tank rinse it till the water runs clear!!!

Pea gravel can work real well in a lowlight setting, but when its fresh, there will be no nutrients for the plants.

the only nutrients will be from the mulp build up also. there better options out there but i used it for year. smaller base substrate is better personally.

 

[becrac16]

IME driftwood takes FOREVER to leach. I still have some that I boil every once in a while that I got 3 months ago. So, unless you're ready to boil for hours on end for about a week straight, I would go with daily soaks- by that I mean change the water daily. If you're in no rush I would say that is better, plus boiling makes your kitchen stink to high heaven! It smells like rotten eggs, I think.

Also, I have black gravel in my non-lighted tank and I really wish I had gotten sand. Maybe it is because of the no lighting, but to me it seems like my fish just kind of blend into it. Colors look dull and unless your bottom feeders are albino or white, they don't stand out. I personally really like the look of multi-colored (white, black, and grey particle) sand. Plus sand really opens up your options of what kind of fish you can keep.

 

[mudraker]

Driftwood does take months to season; for some people, the lower ph and water discoloration could be desireable in the tank, but not for most.

I agree there are better options for planted tank substrate, but if a person wants to start out with lowlight plants, peagravel will work.