Flora-max

[Promisedsin]

I'm getting ready to set up my new 20H and I was looking at flora-max. I currently have Black Tahitian Moon sand in my 10 gallon that I'm switching to the 20h and saw a black flora-max sand at petco. I was wondering if it is safe to use with snails and red cherry shrimp. Also is it actually helpful to the plants? Does anyone have the sand in their tank? If so pictures?

Are there any other sands for plants that won't cost me a small fortune that are black?

I also picked up a Nutrafin CO2 Natural Plant System for $9. I have only been dosing with Seachem Florish Excel so far. I'm kinda nervous about it. I won't be setting it up until I set up the 20H. Ive been reading up on it a little bit but I'm still not sure I am completely comfortable with it.

When I switch to the 20H I will only have 30watts total if I can even find bulbs for the fixture that came with my set up, which I have 30 watts on my 10 gallon. Anyone know where I can buy bulbs for the Aqualight T5 Series - Double Linear Strip? I still haven't been able to find anything but T5 HO bulbs.

Sorry I'm all over the place

 

[JohnPaul]

I'm getting ready to set up my new 20H and I was looking at flora-max. I currently have Black Tahitian Moon sand in my 10 gallon that I'm switching to the 20h and saw a black flora-max sand at petco. I was wondering if it is safe to use with snails and red cherry shrimp. Also is it actually helpful to the plants? Does anyone have the sand in their tank? If so pictures?

Floro-max is perfectly safe to use in an invert tank. I've never used it myself but I have known people who have used it in their shrimp tanks without issue.

It is very helpful to the plants. When you use a planted tank substrate (whether Floro-max, Flourite or Flourite Sand, Eco-Complete, Onyx sand, etc.) the substrate provides a constant supply of nutrients to the plant roots. If you use an inert substrate, then you are likely going to have to buy fertilizer tablets to sink into your substrate in order to get the same effect. So while the planted tank substrates cost more up front, you save money over the longer term by not having to bother with fertilizer tabs in the substrate.

One small correction you should be aware of, the Floro-max Midnight is not technically a sand. From reading accounts of people who have it in their tanks, it is a mixture of particle sizes ranging from the smallest being sand grain sized, to the largest being the size of gravel. And everything in between. So if you are looking for something that is going to look uniformly like sand, the floro-max midnight is probably not the option for you. (Again, this is based on second-hand information I read on other aquarium forums but I have no reason to doubt the truth of the statements.)

Are there any other sands for plants that won't cost me a small fortune that are black?

Depends how you define "a small fortune," but I have 3 planted shrimp tanks and I use Seachem's Flourite Black Sand in all 3 of them. I love it. It's not super fine like child's play sand, but it is definitely all "sand sized" particles rather than a mix of sand and gravel sized particles. Probably just a slightly larger grain size than the Tahitian Moon Sand (though it's been a long time since I've seen a tank with that in it so my memory could be a bit fuzzy). I recently posted some pictures in a thread here where someone else was asking about substrates, so rather than repeat here, I'll just point you to my previous posting on the topic. And another thread where I also include a picture of a tank with the flourite black sand. As for cost, if you shop around (whether in person or online) the price per bag will be roughly the same whether you go with the floro-max or the fluorite black sand...basically you are looking at $15-20 per bag. Which is roughly the same price you are going to pay for Tahitian Moon Sand.

I also picked up a Nutrafin CO2 Natural Plant System for $9. I have only been dosing with Seachem Florish Excel so far. I'm kinda nervous about it. I won't be setting it up until I set up the 20H. Ive been reading up on it a little bit but I'm still not sure I am completely comfortable with it.

When I switch to the 20H I will only have 30watts total if I can even find bulbs for the fixture that came with my set up, which I have 30 watts on my 10 gallon. Anyone know where I can buy bulbs for the Aqualight T5 Series - Double Linear Strip?

I still haven't been able to find anything but T5 HO bulbs.

Sorry I'm all over the place

Sorry, can't really help with those two topics. Hopefully someone else can chime in.

 

[Promisedsin]

Thank you for your input. I will be mixing whatever I get with the sand I currently have in my 10, I'm just not sure if I will like the larger grain because while mixed I think it would look much more natural but I have heard that the smaller grains will eventually all end up on bottom leaving the larger particles on the surface. I have kuhli loaches and will have pygmy cories so I want something that wont harm them at all. Your tanks look really nice btw. The sand looks sharp in the super close up picture so I think I may go with the flora-max but I still have a few days while I paint the sand and test the tank to make sure its water tight.

 

[JohnPaul]

Well whatever you decide, I hope it works out well for you. And of course, please post pictures once you get it set up.

And on a small side note, I had pygmy cories in that tank for nearly 2 years and they never had any problems with the substrate. They were happy, doing all the things corys do, and there was no visible "wear" on their barbels at all. And FWIW, I've had corys in tanks before with much "rounder" (or "smoother" looking) substrate that did suffer from barbel wear. The longer I have kept corys, the more I am convinced that when there is damage to the barbels it is not due to a physical cause (shape of the substrate) but to water quality issues. Or in the case of gravel (where you can get bacteria-laded mulm gathering between the gravel particles), "gravel-quality" issues. I've kept corys in tanks with regular aquarium gravel, eco-complete, fluorite black sand, Tahitian moon sand, and pool filter sand. I've had corys that suffered from barbel damage and ones that didn't, and the only thing in common between the ones that did (on one hand) and didn't (on the other hand) was the quality (regularity & thoroughness) of my tank maintenance. Where maintenance was thorough and regular, the corys did fine no matter what the substrate was. Where maintenance was poor, only occasional, or not done very well, the corys had problems with their barbels...no matter what the substrate was. So take that as one hobbyist's experience, for what it's worth.

 

[Promisedsin]

I ended up going with the flora-max. Hopefully it works out well for me. Thank your for your input. I will definitely post pictures as soon as I get it set up. I finally got the stand painted. Painted a spider in the process that somehow made it on the stand on the walk out to the garage. Can't wait to get it all set up.