HannahJ
Aquarium Advice Activist
I'm still working on what exacty I want to do with my 58 gallon, but I know I want to have a sand substrate (I'm going for a faux river look and it will bring out my black ghost knife, the centerpiece fish). However, I think I'm ready to make the jump to planted tanks, and I would like to use Eco-Complete to grow those in. I currently have two ideas on how to integrate these two substrates:
1) Have a 2" layer of Eco-Complete on bottom, with the plants planted in it, and then a 1" layer of pool filter sand over the Eco-Complete. My main concern here is that any burrowing fish I get would dig up the eco-complete and ruin the look of the tank, and that moving plants would likewise be difficult.
2) Have the substrate be 2-3" of pool filter sand, and have pots of eco-complete that the plants would be planted in. Then just dig up a hole in the PFS and put the pot in there, then cover it over with PFS. It would also make moving plants a cinch, since there wouldn't be any actual transplanting.
I prefer the latter idea myself, but since I've never heard of anyone doing it before, I'm assuming there's some inherent flaw I'm not seeing. I would of course make sure the pots would be large enough for some root growth, and I would use the ceramic ones that wouldn't have any contaminants.
As some more information, I'm planning on using low to medium light plants with medium lighting and no CO2 injection. I will do some fertilization. The plants I'm looking into are anachris, water wysteria, anubias, amazon swords, water sprite, java fern, salvinia (floating), and java moss. The tank will be purely freshwater, with the temperature at 76-78 degrees F.
Any feedback/advice/etc. is welcome!
PS- also, a random question about PFS: can you clean it with a normal gravel vac?
1) Have a 2" layer of Eco-Complete on bottom, with the plants planted in it, and then a 1" layer of pool filter sand over the Eco-Complete. My main concern here is that any burrowing fish I get would dig up the eco-complete and ruin the look of the tank, and that moving plants would likewise be difficult.
2) Have the substrate be 2-3" of pool filter sand, and have pots of eco-complete that the plants would be planted in. Then just dig up a hole in the PFS and put the pot in there, then cover it over with PFS. It would also make moving plants a cinch, since there wouldn't be any actual transplanting.
I prefer the latter idea myself, but since I've never heard of anyone doing it before, I'm assuming there's some inherent flaw I'm not seeing. I would of course make sure the pots would be large enough for some root growth, and I would use the ceramic ones that wouldn't have any contaminants.
As some more information, I'm planning on using low to medium light plants with medium lighting and no CO2 injection. I will do some fertilization. The plants I'm looking into are anachris, water wysteria, anubias, amazon swords, water sprite, java fern, salvinia (floating), and java moss. The tank will be purely freshwater, with the temperature at 76-78 degrees F.
Any feedback/advice/etc. is welcome!
PS- also, a random question about PFS: can you clean it with a normal gravel vac?