Mixing Substrate

[Fishlover94]

Can I use Fluval Stratum as a bottom layer then Seachem Flourite and Fluval Bio Stratum as a top layer? Or should it be Seachem Flourite, Fluval Stratum then Fluval Bio Stratum.

[Aiken Drum]

Why are you mixing substrates? What are you trying to achieve?

[Fishlover94]

Originally Posted by Aiken Drum

Why are you mixing substrates? What are you trying to achieve?

I'm switching to a 100% planted aquarium, and I only have gravel. So I want to remove them and use plant substrate. I have corries, so that is why I was going to mix it or layer it. Doing seachem flourite, then fluval stratum, then top bio stratum.

[Aiken Drum]

The plants you have peviously mentioned will be fine in standard aquarium gravel. Corys will be fine with most gravel as well.

I think you are overcomplicating things.

The bio stratum just sounds nonsense to me. Bacteria put in dormancy to survive in dry conditions? Really? How does that work? Its a lot like the bottled beneficial bacteria products. Even if there is bacteria in there, you have no control how the product is stored and transported and it just dies off before you even purchase it.

Stratum and flourite are soil based substrates. I can see that being beneficial, but the nutrients will get used up. Whenever ive used soil based substrates capped with gravel they have lost effectiveness after a year or so and i had to start using root tabs.

If you really want a soil based substrate then pick one and cap it with gravel. Personally just stick with the gravel you have and use some root tabs.

[Fishlover94]

Originally Posted by Aiken Drum

The plants you have peviously mentioned will be fine in standard aquarium gravel. Corys will be fine with most gravel as well.

I think you are overcomplicating things.

The bio stratum just sounds nonsense to me. Bacteria put in dormancy to survive in dry conditions? Really? How does that work? Its a lot like the bottled beneficial bacteria products. Even if there is bacteria in there, you have no control how the product is stored and transported and it just dies off before you even purchase it.

Stratum and flourite are soil based substrates. I can see that being beneficial, but the nutrients will get used up. Whenever ive used soil based substrates capped with gravel they have lost effectiveness after a year or so and i had to start using root tabs.

If you really want a soil based substrate then pick one and cap it with gravel. Personally just stick with the gravel you have and use some root tabs.

Would we better to put the Fluval Sat on the bottom and just Seachem Flourish onto

[Aiken Drum]

Better for what? Your plants dont need these substrates, and you wont see much benefit over just gravel with root tabs.

If its the appearance of the stratum you want then just go with the stratum. As has been raised on your other thread, expect to see elevated ammonia levels for possibly a few months.

Again. I think you are over complicating things just for some amazon swords and crypts. This is one of my tanks with swords and crypts with just aquarium gravel, a half decent light, root tabs, weekly dose of flourish, and a little patience. Changing your substrate would be for your benefit, not the plants.

[Aiken Drum]

Plants need nutrients, light and CO2 to grow. As long there is enough of these for the specific plant, the plant will be fine. The plants you have mentioned are low demand plants and dont need much in the way of nutrients, light or CO2.

The amount the plant grows will be down to a limit on one of these 3 factors. Im going to say in most low tech planted tanks, which would be a gravel or sand substrate, with a standard aquarium light, weekly dose of an all-in-one liquid fertiliser, the limiting factor is the light. Adding a nutrient rich substrate wont help anything because there isnt enough light. To get the benefit of the substrate you need to increase the light so the plant can utilise these nutrients.

So you go out and get a specialist planted tank light fixture. What will that achieve? More growth, and faster growth. Is that a good thing in an aquarium? All you really need is healthy growth, which given you are looking at low demand plants you could have achieved without the nutrient rich substrate and high powered lighting.

The tank above has neither of these things, and even then every 6 to 8 weeks i probably remove and throw away 50% of the plant growth to stop the tank getting overgrown. I dont need more growth or faster growth.