AaronW
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Which works best for your plants? How deep do you make it? Is it possible to switch out substrate with out taking everything out?
Which works best for your plants? How deep do you make it? Is it possible to switch out substrate with out taking everything out?
Honestly just about any substrate will work. A lot depends on the type of plants and set up you want. If your going low light with a lot of plants that attach to DW and a few plants in the substrate then use what you like best as long as the grain size isn't really large. Sand is cheap and will grow plants just fine but root tabs are needed for heavy rooters such as swords, crypts, and bulbs. Commercial plant substrate is good because it has a high CEC, cation exchange capacity, which means it can absorb nutrients from detris and the water and hold them for use by plants. Dirt also has a high CEC and makes for a nutrient rich substrate. Personally all my tanks are either Eco Complete or Dirted with an Eco cap.
I prefer a 2-1/2" thick substrate except for a dirted tank. With them I prefer 1-1/2" dirt and 1-1/2" cap.
It is much easier and quicker to empty a tank to change out gravel.
I have never used Flourite as I had always heard how dusty it was. But I would definitely pack in a lot of polyfill and if your filter has a polishing pad you can use try that. Are you sure the cloudy water is fine dust particles or could you be having an extended bacterial bloom?
Rivercats said:Try the polyfill but leave it in to get really dirty since the more clogged they get the finer the particles they catch.
Seachem clarity helps with this also.its the dust particles. last night i was doing anothet massive water change and the water was pristine clear UNTIL i turn the filter on. the current from the output starts a "dust storm" the second the water jets out of the hose
Seachem clarity helps with this also.
I won't use clarifiers but that's just me. I don't know how the water flows goes through your canister but I put it 2nd in mine. It goes sponge on bottom then polyfill. I also put the polyfill in wet as it condenses down a lot. That way you get a good amount in the basket.
how's that different from Aqueon clarifier? i used it and cleared temporarily until the next water change. and i heard i shouldn't add clarifier because it disturbed the chemical balance in the fish tank.
I've not used that kind. I don't recommend regularly using clarifiers but it works great just to help take out clay dust. I remember Eco complete actually comes with a clarifier packet, or at least it used to. Surprised flourite doesn't.
oh trust me, you know nothing about Flourite surprises. if i could rewind the time, i would rather go with eco complete, since i've had it before for my nano tank. the only reason why i use Flourite this time is because it was on clearance. about $4/bag, significantly less than the originally sell price. it's so dusty/cloudy after so many massive water changes. not worth the effort and the time IME. and yes, i am aware of the fact that there's some sort of clarifier in the eco complete substrate.
The last six bags of EcoComplete I have purchased from a local Petco did NOT have a clarifier packet. It was also on sale for $9 bag. Yes, it was VERY cloudy at the start and still clouds up a bit if I disturb it. I used polyfil initially to take out most of the dust.
If I could do it again (this is for my shrimp tank) I would have used the Petco black sand simply because of the consistent black color. The tank has mostly moss on DW and only a few (5) crypts.