# alternative to aquasoil or eco-complete?



## n0otro (Nov 22, 2006)

I live on Oahu so getting either of these shipped to me makes it not really worth it. Has anybody successfully used cleaned stream gravel as a substrate? Is this not a good idea? 

What other options do I have to get some nice plant growth?
I've used fluorite before, but haven't seen that around here either.

thanks


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

Any gravel can work fine as long as it's inert. Drop some concentrated acid on it to make sure it doesn't fizz. You may find it useful to use add a little something like laterite to improve the properties of the substrate. Also, do some reading in the 'El Naturale' forum here for lots of good info on soil substrates.


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

Petsmart if you have them on the island carries Flourite, but normal finer grained gravel works just as well. Mixed with a bit of laterite on the bottom layer and a sprinkle of peat on the bottom of the tank's glass should be a great start.

-John N.


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

You can also look into pool filter sand as an inexpensive substrate. It is fairly cheap on the mainland (about $10 for 50lbs) but is probably a bit higher on the island. You will need to dose the water column but with Greg's ferts, that is inespensive also.


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## miles (Apr 26, 2006)

howzit no'o,

you can get that lapis sandblasting sand from mr. sandman (airport area) or other sandblasting places. i got a 100lb bag for $22 a few years ago. compare that to the 10lb bags lfs sell for $6.50. that said, however, there are a few bits of what appears to be calcium carbonate; we have relatively soft water (in town, don't know about country) so it doesn't bother me. 

river sand would be good, but screening it for proper size (1 -2 mm) would be a back breaking job. not worth it, imho. however, that sand would be almost entirely basaltic in nature, so it should be esentially inert and the color would be great.

alternatively, you could buy turface pro league from koolau farmers in kaneohe; i recently paid $25 for a 50 lb bag of the red stuff. if you need bulk, you can order through brewer chemical; they have a $50 min order and sell for $14/50 lbs. do the math, that's a lot of turface (as reference, 5 lbs would give at least a 1.5" thick substrate in a 10 gal tank).

petland kahala and ala moana have flourite, but it's expensive as all get out. i think they want close to $40 a bag. that's nuts. it ain't worth it. go with the sandblasting sand and laterite.

hope this helps.

laytaz, brah.


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## Satirica (Feb 13, 2005)

My sand substrate tank that has a thin layer of peat grows plants as well as my Eco-complete tank. If I were doing it all over again I'd us a very thin layer of peat topped with a very thin layer of soil and some mulm. I won't buy Eco-complete again -- it is a PITA to plant in compared to 1-2mm diameter sand.


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## banderbe (Nov 17, 2005)

I tried blasting sand and it was a disaster, but I was a noob back then and was doing a variety of things wrong so who knows.

I just know that the cation exchange capacity (CEC) of sand is pretty low, and good plant growth typically requires a substrate with a high cation exchange capacity.

Sand also has a tendency to become anaerobic, and gas pockets of (I think) sulfur can escape and result in fish deaths.

I currently use eco-complete and I like it okay but next time I am going to use aquasoil.


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