# New Tank - Substrate help needed.



## lorenceo (Mar 29, 2005)

Hey everyone,
I am going to be setting up my new tank next week (410 litres), and I am unsure what I should do about substrate.

I really like the look of Eco-Complete and the ADA Aquasoil Amazonia, But these are way out of my price range (also I'd have to get them from overseas) So these are not an option. Same goes for flourite.

I can get gravel, small grey inert pebbles around 2-5mm and have this in my current tanks. It works well for the plants, but the gravel in my current tanks is very mature. If I put this in the new tank by itself I'm sure the plants would suffer in the long run.

Was wondering what I could do to make this brand new substrate better for the plants besides getting mulm under it.
I have seen people putting peat moss under their gravel, is this a good idea?
What else would you recomend? I dont want to spend too much on this as this tank has already cost me an arm and a leg.

Thanks.


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

I would try your gravel with a dusting of peat and some mulm from your other tank. The cost would be right and as long as you fertilize the water column the plants should not suffer.

Here are some pics of how I set up my tank. I used Soilmaster Select (only available in the US as far as I know) but this method will work with any substrate.

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/swoape-forum/10563-soilmaster-setup-pics.html?highlight=Soilmaster

Notice that a dusting of peat is all that is required if you are using CO2. IF you plant ot not use CO2 you can add more peat but don't add it dry. Make sure to soak it a few days in a bucket of water before adding it to the tank. Also take notice that I added some substrate on top of the peat before adding the mulm. This keeps the peat from floating up but still lets the mulm get into the bottom layer of the substrate.

Since you are using plain gravel, I would add even more mulm to the substrate once you have it all in the tank. If you add to much mulm, the filter will benefit from the extra mulm.


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