# What substrate do you have?



## Jaap (Jun 24, 2005)

Many people say "I have 25% clay and 25% laterite and 50% gravel". I am going to start a small 20L heavy plantload nano tank and I would like to have a good substrate but also understand why I chose it...so I chose to investigate the matter. Help me out please by explaining what substrate do you have and why you chose it. 

NOTE: If your substrate is in layers please start with the bottom layer. If the substrate is a mixture please note how much with how much was mixed. If your substrate has any special needs before or after instalation please give information. 

Kindest regards,

John.


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

FWIW, here goes:

29 gal with plain river gravel (60%) and flourite (40%). Done like this because it was the start of my plant keeping so I mixed in some flourite with the existing gravel rather than ripping up entire tank.

10 gal with Eco only.

10 gal with flourite only.

50 gal with mixture of eco and flourite, about 50/50. This is my favorite. Flourite has a lot of black color to it, I just made it a little more. Plants seem to be doing great in it.


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## stcyrwm (Apr 20, 2005)

There are some reviews in the review section of this website. I use Fluorite in two of my tanks and Onyx Sand in the other. I much prefer the Onyx sand. It is easier to plant in and it it is far less messy. I like the looks of it better too. Plants seem to like both.

Good luck, Bill


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

My 2 cents:

75g - 60% Eco, 40% Tahitian Moon Sand, mixed. I like the black color of the substrate and I had heard good reviews on the ECO. My LFS only had 6 bags of Eco so I got the sand too. It's been set up for about 2 years now and still going strong though I get some BBA growing on the Eco particles that make their way up through the sand. Probably a CO2 issue. 

55g - 60% Shultz Aquatic Plant Soil , 20% Flourite, 20% Florabase. I have two 5g tanks st up this way. The substrates were set up on a "budget" and I used what I had on hand for both tanks. Works very well but it is very "light" and difficult to keep newly runed plants rooted. Both have been going well for 18 months or so. The Florabase does tend to crumble and I would skip it in my next tank. Not worth the hassle in my opinion.

30g - 60% Eco, 40% Tahitian Moon Sand. I liked the color again and had great growth with my 75g so why not??? Been set up a little over a year now with this substrate. Like the 75g, I get some BBA growing on the Eco particles that make their way up through the sand. 

10g - 100% Tahitain Moon Sand. I like the color and came to realize that as long as I dose the water column, the substrate isn't very important to the plants. Sand is great since plants are easy to plant and they stay put! Only been set up about six months but things are growing well for a low light non-CO2 tank. 

All being said, I will use silica sand or more black sand in the future since they are inert. I may even try Onyx. If you are going to dose the water column sand seems to work just fine.


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## Sir_BlackhOle (Jan 25, 2004)

I've always been a fan of laterite. Its just so damn cheap! Have also used flourite/sand and Profile Aquatic Plant Soil with good results.


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

I have one tank with Eco-complete and one with Fluorite. I choose both of these because they have the nutrients needed by plants.

My other tank has a bottom layer of Laterite with pool filter sand on top. I choose the pool sand because I wanted something other than gravel and a sand that would not raise my KH. I put the laterite underneath for the nutrients it provides.


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## Phil Edwards (Jan 22, 2004)

I've got all of them. In fact, I've got one tank with all of the major commercial substrates layered in it.  I still like my local river sand the best.


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## Jaap (Jun 24, 2005)

1. When you say Flourite I believe it is the Flourite by Seachem right?

2. Is it easy to anchor plants in Flourite or is sand needed so that plants will not float away?

3. Is Flourite small graded? Because I will be using it for a nano tank and it would look bad if it was large in size.

4. Do you suggest to use 100% Flourite or also place a thin layer of fine gravel on top so as not to expose the Flourite directly to the water column? Also it would look better if the Flourite is large in size?

5. Should I also place a thin layer of organic substrate in between two Flourite layers? What would be a good organic substrate (peat?) and where could I find it?


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