What Plant Substrate Would You Go With?

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

Well i'm having a hard time picking what kind of substrate I should get for my 5 Gallon planted tank and my soon to be 10 Gallon RCS Breeder Planted Tank.


Well I decided to see what you guys would do if you had the choice, just vote and then please explain your vote in a reply.



This is only going to be opened till the 17th because that's when i'm ordering.





Thanks for taking your time to vote!

 

[jrp1588]

I voted eco-complete, because it is a little better in my experience, and with such a small tank, the price won't be too bad. For my 75gal I actually went with the flourite black sand mixed with some eco complete I already had on hand. the combination seems to be working fine.

 

[jonnythan]

I personally went with black sand, and I love it. Looks really sick.

 

[neilanh]

can you give some details of your plans? how much lighting, how heavily do you intend to plant, and are you going to be using ferts/CO2?

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

can you give some details of your plans? how much lighting, how heavily do you intend to plant, and are you going to be using ferts/CO2?

The 5 gallon has one of those 6700K Spiral Fluorecent bulbs 20W, it's not going to be really heavy planted kind of in the middle I might end up going heavy on that one though, no co2 or ferts unless I have to.

The 10 gallon has 2x 15W Fluorcent tube bulbs (two diff fixtures), I think the total K between them is like 12K or something, I might get a 2x 18W Fixture. It will be lightly planted because it's going to be a shrimp breeder, it will have no co2 or ferts unless I have to.


Both setups i'm hoping for a low-ish tech setup.


Does that help ya out?

 

[jonnythan]

The 5 gallon has one of those 6700K Spiral Fluorecent bulbs 20W, it's not going to be really heavy planted kind of in the middle I might end up going heavy on that one though, no co2 or ferts unless I have to.

The 10 gallon has 2x 15W Fluorcent tube bulbs (two diff fixtures), I think the total K between them is like 12K or something, I might get a 2x 18W Fixture. It will be lightly planted because it's going to be a shrimp breeder, it will have no co2 or ferts unless I have to.


Both setups i'm hoping for a low-ish tech setup.


Does that help ya out?

K is Kelvin. It's color temperature. You don't add them up

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

K is Kelvin. It's color temperature. You don't add them up

Haha kk, well I think I got one 5500K one and one 8500K one.

 

[neilanh]

For those setups I'd go inert. Tahitian moon sand if you want black, or 3M color quartz. There is no "other" option in the poll tho.

 

[bs6749]

For my RCS breeding setup (55g) I used Eco-Complete. However, this was because I planned on growing plants in order to sell them after trimming them regularly. If I was just going with a RCS breeder tank, I'd go with lots of Java moss and that'd probably be it as far as plants. That way you won't need the "better lighting" that would most likely be required for other types of plants. In addition to the Java moss, which should be anchored to driftwood or large rocks or floating/not buried in the substrate, I'd go with sand as the substrate since the more nutrient rich substrates you have in mind will do little for the Java moss. It's basically a waste of money IMO. I'd go with a black or dark colored sand, such as Tahitian moon sand because it helps to bring out the vibrant red coloring of these shrimp. It also makes it easier for them to dig and sift through the sand. I don't think that Eco-complete nor Flourite comes in smaller bags and you are going to spend at least $20 per bag no matter what. You will probably end up using 1/4-1/3 of a bag for your 5g if you decide to go that route.

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

For my RCS breeding setup (55g) I used Eco-Complete. However, this was because I planned on growing plants in order to sell them after trimming them regularly. If I was just going with a RCS breeder tank, I'd go with lots of Java moss and that'd probably be it as far as plants. That way you won't need the "better lighting" that would most likely be required for other types of plants. In addition to the Java moss, which should be anchored to driftwood or large rocks or floating/not buried in the substrate, I'd go with sand as the substrate since the more nutrient rich substrates you have in mind will do little for the Java moss. It's basically a waste of money IMO. I'd go with a black or dark colored sand, such as Tahitian moon sand because it helps to bring out the vibrant red coloring of these shrimp. It also makes it easier for them to dig and sift through the sand. I don't think that Eco-complete nor Flourite comes in smaller bags and you are going to spend at least $20 per bag no matter what. You will probably end up using 1/4-1/3 of a bag for your 5g if you decide to go that route.

Well I was going to actually plant my 5 gallon and I was going to use it for my 10 gallon RCS breeder as well (15 lbs) but if the black sand is cheaper and I wont need the pricey stuff I should just go with the sand.

Oh btw bs did you get my pm I sent couple days ago?

 

[mgamer20o0]

i like the Flourite black sand.

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

Yeah that might be what I end up getting too.

 

[nk5566]

I personally really like Eco Complete - it doesn't cloud up your water like some of the others, and the plants seem to love it. It's also good for establishing a good biological environment for the fish too, and can thus reduce ammonia levels. The stuff also looks great and very natural... I know Dr. Foster and Smith even sell a red-colored Eco Complete now too, along with the traditional brown/black color of soil.

 

[nk5566]

Oh, and in addition... the sand type substrates I've heard can be a pain in the butt, cause they will form "pockets" which need to be stirred frequently because they can build up pockets of harmful gases. That can be kind of frustrating, especially if you have a heavily planted tank, and you need to keep re-planting them. The Eco-Complete on the other hand, breathes, and you don't need to worry about build up of the deadly gases.

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

kk

 

[jonnythan]

The Flourite Black Sand is a larger grain than, say, beach sand or pool sand. They're irregularly shaped smallish pieces of gravel.

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

kk thanks for your input

 

[brutus]

i cant vote i don't see flourite dark up there.

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

Well I wanted to aim for something black thats why lol Sorry

 

[brutus]

in that case i vote green with plants so you cant see substrate