# [Wet Thumb Forum]-Black Sand for Plants growth



## arulnathan (May 24, 2005)

Hello everyone, 

Can anyone tell me what is this black sand as my dealer says it will boost my plants growth and I dont have to use fertilizers... is it correct because it will be costing me a bomb. Please advise as I love to have plants but cannot afford co2 cylinders.


----------



## imported_russell (Sep 14, 2004)

what type of sand is it? is there a brand name or anything? 

PS: i don't think that there is any one substrate that will fertilize your whole tank by its self.

if he is selling you eco-complete, then if the price is not way high, it is good stuff.


----------



## groovyfishguy (May 1, 2005)

> Originally posted by arulnathan:
> Hello everyone,
> 
> Can anyone tell me what is this black sand as my dealer says it will boost my plants growth and I dont have to use fertilizers... is it correct because it will be costing me a bomb. Please advise as I love to have plants but cannot afford co2 cylinders.


Tell your deal that he is full of ....
well you get the point no substrate takes the place of fertilizers... although some may disagree


----------



## Hawkeye (Aug 20, 2004)

I use Eco-Complete in five tanks. I grow a large verity of heavy root feeding plants without adding any ferts to my substrate. Its black but not sand. It will boost plant growth.

Hawk


----------



## arulnathan (May 24, 2005)

> eco-complete


the dealer says its made locally....I am confused ...and we dont get this Eco-Complete sand here in INDIA....the market is poor here.

Can anyone tell me how much can it cost me If I import it....any dealers who send it to INDIA. Kindly help me please.


----------



## MyraVan (Feb 13, 2005)

arulnathan -- if you want nice looking plants but are on a tight budget, you might consider the Diana Walstad method. She describes it in her book _Ecology of the Planted Aquarium_, and there's a forum here, "El Natural", discussing it.

The Walstad method uses ordinary soil, like you dig up from a garden, plus ordinary small gravel as a substrate. Plant growth with this is generally good, but it does have its drawbacks. One of these is that the organic substances decay slowly, emitting humic acids that, although harmless, don't look nice because they turn your water yellow. So for the first few months of the life of your tank, you can have yellow water!

I've found that the El Natural approach is best for people who are patient. For example, for plant choice, Diana simply suggests planting a wide range of plants, and seeing which ones do well in your setup, and then planting more of the ones that work well.

It's certainly not the approach that everyone likes. Many people here prefer to have expensive, high-tech tanks, which allow them to grow any plant they choose, rather than growing only what can be supported only by more low-tech, low-cost means.


----------



## aquabillpers (Apr 13, 2006)

> I use Eco-Complete in five tanks. I grow a large verity of heavy root feeding plants without adding any ferts to my substrate. Its black but not sand. It will boost plant growth.


I am an agnostic when it comes to the use of high-priced "special" substrates. They might work just fine, but no one has told me why they do, if they do, except for (maybe) that they provide more surface area for bacteria to convert water column nutrients to a form that the plants can use.

So: How does Eco boost plant growth? And, while you don't add fertilizer to the substrate, do you add fertilizer to the water column? (I'd think that you'd have to, to provide the nitrates and phosphates that the plants need, unless the aquariums aree heavily stocked with fish and heavily fed.)

Thanks.

Bill


----------



## Hawkeye (Aug 20, 2004)

How does Eco boost plant growth?
--------------------------------
It is enriched with iron,magnesium,calcium,potassium,zinc,sulfur,manganese,sodium, and over twelve more. In other words it has all the stuff you add to plain gravel when you use root tabs. 

do you add fertilizer to the water column? 
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I do add ferts to the water column but I find that very heavy root feeders like Swords and Crypts along with foreground plants like Baby Tears, Dwarf harigrass and dwarf sag. grow so much better and faster with Eco-Complete compared to my old substrates. ( Gravel mixed with Flourite and 100% Flourite) 

Hawk


----------



## aquabillpers (Apr 13, 2006)

> It is enriched with iron,magnesium,calcium,potassium,zinc,sulfur,manganese,sodium, and over twelve more. In other words it has all the stuff you add to plain gravel when you use root tabs.


Thanks. A follow-up? Depending on the minerals in one's water supply, is it possible that the leaching or mixing of those from Eco could cause problems? (I'm thinking particularly about those who have hard, mineral-rich water.)

Also, do you have any idea as to how long Eco would last before its minerals ran out? (That can be a problem with soil tanks, some say.)

Bill


----------



## Hawkeye (Aug 20, 2004)

My tap water is PH - 7.8 , KH - 5 , and GH - 13 . I haven't had any trouble. After using it in my 75gal tank (My first tank with Eco) I had such great plant growth I changes all my plant tank over to it. I am very pleased so far. Its so easy to use and I don't have to worry about the mess you get from soil when replanting.

do you have any idea as to how long Eco would last 
-----------------------------------------------

It a new product, I don't really know how long it lasts. My oldest tank with Eco is over two years old now. I still have good growth. 

If you buy any Eco make sure its doesn't have a milky look to it. These bags are a bad batch that is being sold on the net mostly. IT being replace and new stuff has just been released.

Hawk


----------



## arulnathan (May 24, 2005)

Hello All,

I went to the said dealer and asked him if he has used that black sand somewhere ....then he showed a big tank with 1 mm 2 mm gavel type dark grey gravel.....and I saw more than 20 varities of plants crowding his tank. And he was using a square kind of very high light for them.

After seeing it and non availability of Eco at our end...I think I will experiment with this substrate and see.

And one of the dealer said.....I would have to use the under water gravel filter...if I want to grow good growth. As he said the amonia created will destroy the roots if there is no under gravel filter....and which will give growth to fungus in the fishes ( he said)... and being plants in the aquarium I wont be able to treat the fishes in case they got fungus...Can I treat the fishes for fungus or not, when the plants are there....is this true...please give adivise in this case..


----------



## aquabillpers (Apr 13, 2006)

Hello, Arulnathan,

You don't need an undergravel filter to grow healthy plants. In fact, most experienced plant growers believe that they have a negative affect on plant growth and that they cause more trouble than they are worth. Roots grow into them, and periodically they fill with gunk and have to be cleaned.

As far as ammonia is concerned, healthy plants eat it if conditions are right, and if they aren't bacteria convert it to nitrates and plants then eat it. 

Some dealers maintain beautiful display tanks for month after month. Others add new plants every day, to replace those that die or are sold. Be careful of evaluating a dealer's plant growing abilities until you've observed a display tank for a month, at least.

Expensive "Black Sand?" A good rule of thumb is
that if you don't know what something is, don't buy it. For a substrate, Ms. Walstad's approach
works, and you can also grow a lot of plants in a tank with a plain 2mm - 3mm gravel bottom with a good number of fish, if you chose your plants well, and, perhaps, do a little water column fertilization.

I would be very careful about accepting advice from this dealer. He might just want to sell you an undergravel filter and, possibly, other stuff that he has that you don't need.

Good luck.

Bill


----------



## arulnathan (May 24, 2005)

Thank you so much Mr. Bill & others who have advised me for this topic. I will use this very carefully in the future.


----------

