# Can't decide on a substrate



## Shrimplett (Mar 21, 2013)

I can't seem to decide on a good substrate for my tank. All I am really looking for in a substrate is that it last a while, makes good plant growth, and that it look nice. I amthinking about staring an El Natrual tank because of the simplicity of it. I was going to use aquasoil as a cap. But after I heard how expensive it is I'm not sure. I will more than likely be getting a 55 gallon tank. How many bags of soil and and aquasoil do you think I would need? How much do you think that would cost? I am thinking about aquasoil getting because my tank ph and tap water ph are different (tap water ph is lower). Is there another cap that works just as good as aquasoil? Thanks.....


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## Yo-han (Oct 15, 2010)

I would never set up a tank with anything different than aqua soil anymore. It really improves plant growth. For a 55G depending on the height (substrate surface) you'll probably need 3 x 9L bags. It's an investment but a nice aquarium is worth a few bucks more than one with poor growth IMO.

I setup a 10G iwagumi today with aqua soil... (picture made with my phone so poor quality)


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## Shrimplett (Mar 21, 2013)

Thank you, nice answer! I agree with you that spending more the first time is better than spending less and then having poor plant growth. Now I just need to deiced if I won't an El Natrual tank or a tank with Co2 and everything. This is off topic but do you think tanks with Co2 are better than El Natrual tank? Does that make sense lol? By the way nice tank!


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## Yo-han (Oct 15, 2010)

Yes, plant do grow better with co2 bit it all depends on your goals and time.


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## Shrimplett (Mar 21, 2013)

Is it any harder than El Natrual? How much would a co2 system cost?


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## jseyfert3 (Apr 9, 2012)

Shrimplett said:


> Is it any harder than El Natrual? How much would a co2 system cost?


Can't say about the cost, but for my first planted tank I'm almost ready to add plants too I just spent almost $300 on a CO2 system. Price can vary based on what tank size you go with, what deals you find on used stuff, and what local prices are.

OTOH, although that sounds like a lot, it's mainly a one time investment, I can easily and cheaply expand the same bottle to cover more then one tank and it's cheap to refill. From research I've done for my two 20 gal long tanks I expect my 20 lb CO2 bottle to last about six months to a year, and it's only $20 to swap it out for a new one.


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## herns (Aug 28, 2007)

Shrimplett said:


> Thank you, nice answer! I agree with you that spending more the first time is better than spending less and then having poor plant growth.


The same applies to co2 regulators buying China made that assemble your own.

Sent from HTC One device using Tapatalk2


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

You can use the el natural setup and add pressurized CO2 to make plants grow better. I've done this many times and it works very well. Very little work involved in maintenance.


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## jerrybforl (Jul 22, 2008)

I agree with Zapins. You can still use CO2 with EI and lower lighting. ..40-50 umols. You can always fert the substrate with Osmocote+. It lasts a good while. 

Feed your root feeders, and dose the column for stems and such. Tom Barr gave me this bit of info few years ago. Works great!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2


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## ctyank (Oct 23, 2006)

+1 on the Amazonia Aqua Soil. I have used A LOT of substrates over the years and have never been half as happy as I am with this product. It looks great, works great, lasts a long time and has many devoted customers. I like saving a buck MORE than the next guy, and this is NOT the place to do so. Bite the bullet and invest. Do you love your tank? Don't be cheap... give it the best substrate.

At the same time, I'm not a big honk for the powders and "power sand" they want you to put underneath your substrate. Those white-ish stones eventually find their way to the surface. I am FOREVER plucking them out of the tank.


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## cloud18 (Sep 7, 2009)

Well in my case, qua soil melted haft of my tank... It took three weeks of constant water change,everyday, with ro water to fix that mess!


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