# How to switch substrate?



## Bluejay (Sep 25, 2010)

I've been told that I need to fix my substrate. I currently just have regular aquarium gravel in an established 10 gallon tank. I have been told I can just add another substrate to my tank for my plants but I need advice on how to add the substrate so that I can have plants that thrive and so that I do not have to tear apart my tank. I have fish that are quite happy where they are. ^.^ I also want to add plants to my 1 gallon and my 1.5 gallon but those I can just start all over in again being as they are so small. I also need advice on what substrate to get and better lighting. I currently have a F15T8 Marineland daylight bulb, it came with the tank. I am not opposed to switching it if need be.

Please give me any tips or advice!


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## Sharkbait (Oct 10, 2010)

It's possible to use regular aquarium gravel, but it's usually epoxy coated and isn't good at holding nutrients for that reason. If you want to change your substrate while your fauna is still in the tank, you're going to want something inert like flourite or other clay substrate. You could make mineralized topsoil also, but it takes alot of time.

Products like aquasoil are generally considered the best substrates, but you don't want to add them when you already have fauna as they will leach ammonia for weeks. 

If it were my tank, I'd scoop up as much gravel as possible (you can't see a little on the bottom under the new substrate) and cover with something like flourite (rinsed very, very, very well, then maybe rinsed again). You can put root tabs under the new substrate if you want, and it's probably a good idea under any new plants you put in. Then do a water change because all the gunk caught up in your old gravel is likely floating around in the tank.

Im not good at picking lighting for tanks that size so maybe someone else can help you there. Don't go crazy putting too much light over your tank though unless you get a good CO2 system rolling first. Lighting will decide all the other equipment and ferts you will need. I think the stock light would put you in the low light range if it's a T8 bulb. Two of those over a glass hood is probably the upper end of medium lighting.


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

Read the article that Niko linked into THIS THREAD.

The light you have is a 15 watt t-8 bulb. That's 1.5 Watt per Gallon, low light; that's enough for Java Ferns, Anubias, Mosses to grow (and MAYBE a sword or some Vallisneria to survive).

You don't "need" to redo your substrate, but it can help. That article should answer some of your basic questions. Then you can start to decide what you want out of your tank and get more specific.

-Dave


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## Bluejay (Sep 25, 2010)

Thanks guys!

What would you suggest for helping my substrate? Would adding something to my regular gravel, like eco-complete, be better for me now than just switching it all together? As I said I do not want to have to take the whole tank apart...I really don't have the space for a second tank as is and wouldn't really have anywhere to put my fishies while I was doing so.

Also in the article that Niko linked (which I had already taken a look at previously while trying to research on my own ^.^ ) it mentions that 3 or less watts per gallon is low light and 3 or more is considered high light. So I have various plants and have kept the info on them and they vary in between low to moderate and then moderate to high light. Would it be best for me to find a bulb that would be around 3 watts per gallon so it is more of a moderate lighting?


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

A 10 is so small I would bite the bullet and redo it. 
Have the new substrate ready, put everything you want to keep in a bucket or two and simply swap out the old and add the new. 
Then add just a little water, not even as deep as the substrate, and plant, arrange driftwood and rocks. Then put a plate or a plastic bag over the substrate and fill the tank with water. Do this slowly, pouring it over the plate. Allow it to seep slowly into the substrate. This way there will be just a little clouding. 
I would add some Nitrospiros bacteria. Look for that species on the label, and do not waste your money on anything else. The gravel you are removing had a pretty good colony and with it gone the tank would go through a small cycle as the remaining bacteria catch up. Safer for the fish to add some bacteria so the cycle is as small as possible. 

Eco Complete, Flourite and others are good. 
I use Soil Master Select, which has its problems (they all do) but does have a really high cationic exchange capacity, which is missing in any substrate with larger particle sizes. 

Mineralized top soil is a possibility, but with an established tank, I would not do it. Once the mineralizing is done, and this is added to the tank, it further ages, and the tank may not be good for fish right away. Sometimes as long as a month. The mineralizing is supposed to take care of this, but I would not risk it.


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