aquarium substrate

[oliver moggridge]

hi im thinking of referbishing my tank and i want to know what the best substrate to use is? I have coolie loach, 5 golden tetras, 5 neon tetras, 5 ember tetras, 3 panda catfish, 1 male siamese fihghter and 2 female siamese fighters. i want my plants to grow well as they arent doing very well in just gravel. can anyone help with findng a good substrate for plants. thanx

 

[WhiteDevil]

I got some of the same fish, I use sand and it will sustain plant life.

 

[jsoong]

Depends on what plants & light you have as to "best" substrate. For a low light tank, you don't need any of the fancy "nutrient" substrate like ecocomplete. Coarse sand (like pool filter sand) is good. Inert plant substrate like Schultz Aquasoil are other possibilities.

 

[mgamer20o0]

prob not your substrate but the best is ada but you do pay for it.

 

[oliver moggridge]

i bought some eco complete and was just wondering the best way to use it. can i spread it out on the botton nd then put my gravel on top?

 

[severum mama]

There's no need to put your gravel on top. What kind of lighting do you use? If your lighting is inadequate for plants, then they won't grow no matter what kind of substrate you use.

Unfortunately, I doubt that your bettas will coexist peacefully in the same tank.

 

[WhiteDevil]

After this ordeal id really check those cetrain tetras out, read owners comments not just the techie stuff on em. I am getting rid of all my tetras but 5 neons( a little bigger then cardinals right now) due to them attacking my betta, i got em in the act a few hours ago.

 

[oliver moggridge]

im not sure what type the light is but its a double strip light that came with the tank when i bought itso they are probably just normal lights! what lights do you recomend anyway? the bettas seem fine with oneanother also i was told that 2 females are aloud to be with one male! and the tetras dont seem to bother the bettas.

 

[severum mama]

What size is your tank? For smaller tanks, a twin-tube strip should be fine for low light plants. As for the bettas, I've always heard that males and females should be kept separately except during spawning, then the female should be removed. If it seems to be working out, just keep an eye on them for now.

 

[oliver moggridge]

100 liter. ok cool. but how do i know if the plants that i have are low level or high level light plants?

 

[severum mama]

Do you know what plants you have? You'll need to research them and read up on their lighting needs. I may be able to help you if you have pics.

 

[WhiteDevil]

Its either going to be mid or low light plants from FORT.

Im just not sure on what to get, I dont have a double strip now, I got a single 24" total length 18" bulb and the biggest ive seen are around 15w in the bulb section.

I am waiting on FORT to tell me what lights he uses and see if I can find them in my size.

 

[mgamer20o0]

yea i would go with low light and there are different kinds of low light. some super low that might live under your lights and other low light that just might not. if you look on the bulb it should tell you how many watts it is. how long is it?

 

[oliver moggridge]

the bulb is Aqua-glo 24"/5898cm 20W

 

[WhiteDevil]

Its either these medium light ones
10-12 stems of Rotala Rotundifolia (4-8" stems)
~10 trimmings of Mayaca (4-8" stems)
2-3 clumps of Blyxa Japonica
5-6 stems of Pogostemon Erectum
1 nice clump of riccia


or these low light ones
3-4 nice size clumps of crypt w
3-4 nice size java ferns with rhizome
2 golf ball size clumps of java moss
1 cutting of anubias (rhizome with 2-3 leaves)

basically I was told to do what I want, and figure since she just went out and bought 6 guppies 4 of them pregnant and a new 10g tank since mine got shattered this morning by a kid and her tantrum. So if shes keeping babies, Im getting me plants.

its a 26g bowfront tank, any insight would be helpful, trying to figure this out fast like now so I can order my stuff.

 

[oliver moggridge]

these are the plants that im going to keep because the other plant only has about 5 leaves right at the very top of the stem! i hope you can help with these plants?

 

[severum mama]

@ oliver: you seem to have a couple sword plants and some vallisneria (the grassy looking stuff) but the pic won't enlarge and it's hard for me to tell. The vals will probably be ok with the lighting you have, but the swords may not. Then again, you might get lucky... it's worth a shot.

@ WhiteDevil: definitely go for the low light package. You have a deep tank and I don't think you'll be able to grow any of the medium light plants listed without a significant lighting upgrade. You may not have enough light for the low light plants either, but it's a lot more likely to work out IMO.

 

[oliver moggridge]

wot imo

 

[WhiteDevil]

I got the low lights, but it seems EVERYONE around me uses a 6500k bulb too, 3 stores all sold out.

They are supposed to arrive friday and I cant wait. Ive already taken a few plastics out and giving them some room to move around before I go in and make some noise with the W/C and sand cleaning and planting, They are good fish, I just gotta get a net for the guppies, IM about to become a fish grandpa and I am feeding my grandfish to me angels and betta.

 

[severum mama]

WD: 10K bulbs are fine too. Don't worry about not being able to find 6500K immediately.