# My substrate plan



## P Zero (Jan 24, 2006)

Hi all.

I am going to be rescaping my tank tomorrow, and all I have for my substrate at the moment is sand. While I have had reasonable success growing in this, I could do a lot better.

I was thinking of using the following as my substrate;

Top Layer of coarse sand.
Middle layer of kitty litter mixed with some kind of nutrient rich substrate.
Thin bottom layer of peat.

Can anyone comment on this? I am unsure as to how good/bad this may be. The main thing about this substrate is that it would be cheap.


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

Welcome to APC  

I have started using pool filter sand with a layer of laterite underneath. Cheap and works great!


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## dkfennell (Apr 19, 2005)

I would replace the kitty litter with vermiculite (which is about the same price as kitty litter) and I would mix it with top soil (with all roots and major plant matter taken out -- I use a kitchen seive for this). If you add a small amount of laterite it would help. Make sure to boil the peat to help it retain water. If you do that you can put the peat above the vermiculite/soil. If you think this does have enough "nutrients," add fertilizer balls (use self-hardening clay and insert whatever garden fertilizer you think best).

Cheers,

Darrell Fennell


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## P Zero (Jan 24, 2006)

Won't boiling the peat remove any nutrients it may have had?

Where might I get vermiculite? A garden centre? I used to work in a hydroponicum where we used it all the time, but thats 250 miles away


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## dkfennell (Apr 19, 2005)

I get vermiculite at garden stores and large hardware stores with plant centers. Here they sell it in anything from 4 dry quart bags to 6 cubic foot bags.

I really don't use the peat for "nutrients," but mostly for its CEC. If you want to keep the humic acid in the water you use for boiling it, just pour it into the tank (i.e, pour the whole pot, peat and boiled water in). 

One other thing: if you do use vermiculite (or kitty litter for that matter), make sure you roll it with the soil (by kneeding it like bread) until the stuff is grey colored. Do this by wetting the vermiculite (or kitty litter) slowly while kneeding then adding the soil. If you don't get this stuff thoroughly wet, it will come up in the water and deposit on your plants, and if you don't get it off, it will prevent photosynthesis and your plants will die (so rather quickly). It is really hard to get the stuff out of the water column if it's not properly water logged at the beginning. So when you have the substrate laid in, add the water VERY slowly. If you see that the dirt is floating up, you will be well served to stop adding water and letting it sit for several days to adequately water log it before adding more. 

You should know that this kind of substrate is more inconvenient than pure gravel if you like to move rooted plants (especially swords) around. You will get puffs of soil when you remove a rooted plant. If you plant to constantly move plants you should rethink. You can also cheaply provide substrate just by using river stones (which here costs about $5/50 lb).

Cheers,

Darrell Fennell


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## P Zero (Jan 24, 2006)

Well, I ended up spending more than I originally planned, so heres what I ended up with after going to the garden centre and every LFS in the area, and even one 60 miles away.

Pure Laterite
Aqua Medic Aquapeat
Sera Floredepot
Vermiculite
Fine aquarium gravel

I plan on first strategically placing the peat pads around the back corners of the tank, where the big plants will probably be, then put a layer of laterite covering the pads and the rest of the bottom of the tank. Then I want to mix the floredepot with the vermiculite and put a 1.5" - 2" layer on top of the laterite, then a 1" layer of gravel on the very top.

So;

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx < Gravel
o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o < Vermiculite/Floredepot mix
---------------- < Laterite
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' < Aquapeat

What do you think?


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## dkfennell (Apr 19, 2005)

Looks good to me.

BTW, I was assuming you were using sphagnum peat, when I recommended boiling. In your case, follow package instructions.

Cheers,

Darrell Fennell


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## P Zero (Jan 24, 2006)

Nice one. Well, I've run out of time for decision making, I have to do the tank tomorrow so thats what I'll go with.

Thanks for the help!


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## plantbrain (Jan 23, 2004)

I've had better success with kitty litter than vermiculite.

Simply kitty litter, some mulm from the old tank, then topped with sand.

Soil works well, it can be boiled for 10 minutes or baked for 1 hour, or soaked in water in shallow pan etc for 2 weeks before use.

This oxidizes the NH4 out.

Peat has no NH4 content to speak of, the only thing you do is remove the reducing content of the peat in boiling it, best to simply add less [peat, a light dusting is all you need to cause some reduction of the substrate for about a month till the bacterial layers form and assume this role.

Regards, 
Tom Barr

www.BarrReport.com


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