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Question about substrate

3K views 20 replies 4 participants last post by  saulat 
#1 ·
I have a 55 gallon community tank with lots of plants and a gravel substrate. I am getting a 75 gallon 18in wide tank tomorrow or sometime soon. I was hoping someone could give me a good rundown or direct toward a good guide on substrates. I have always liked black sand but not sure how they would look with a lighter wood and plants. I am not sure I would want to use any sort of peat/soil substrate due to the ph swings and added effort. Curious how sand or soil would affect the cleanliness and chemistry of my water. Also, I read that sand at the store may be treated for saltwater. Is there a certain type for freshwater and how expensive might it be for a 75.

I've got at least 10 types of plants and I have cory catfish, a twig cat, rainbows, neon and rummynose tetras, SAEs, rainbow sharks, roseline sharks, hatchet fish, rasbora hets, clown and kuhli loaches, and cherry and bamboo shrimp. I think that is it. I also run pressurized CO2 and 2 powerheads in the tank. I try to do weekly 50% water changes but with school its more like 2 weeks.

Oh, and one last concern is cleaning. I don't really clean my gravel aside from water changes. Is cleaning sand much more difficult?
 
#2 ·
in my 20 gallon i have african cichlid sand (no i do not keep cichlids in this tank), my 20 is a tropical community tank. it has not affected my ph in any way shape or form and it has been in there approx. 3 months. it is a darker brown and black color, i will try to find the exact brand for you. i paid $20.00 for a 20 pound bag
 
#5 ·
I love dark substrate, either sand or fine gravel, makes your plants & fish's color pop out MUCH more.

Here's few pictures for ya, my 10g with black sand, the 20 g's with fine dark brown gravel and the 55g with fine dark brown gravel.

Personally if I was to to my tanks all over again, they'd all get black sand! Also in your case, the Cory will LOVE having sand over gravel. And no its not more or less difficult then cleaning your gravel tank IMO.
 

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#6 ·
I have a 55 gallon community tank with lots of plants and a gravel substrate. I am getting a 75 gallon 18in wide tank tomorrow or sometime soon. I was hoping someone could give me a good rundown or direct toward a good guide on substrates. I have always liked black sand but not sure how they would look with a lighter wood and plants. I am not sure I would want to use any sort of peat/soil substrate due to the ph swings and added effort. Curious how sand or soil would affect the cleanliness and chemistry of my water. Also, I read that sand at the store may be treated for saltwater. Is there a certain type for freshwater and how expensive might it be for a 75.

I've got at least 10 types of plants and I have cory catfish, a twig cat, rainbows, neon and rummynose tetras, SAEs, rainbow sharks, roseline sharks, hatchet fish, rasbora hets, clown and kuhli loaches, and cherry and bamboo shrimp. I think that is it. I also run pressurized CO2 and 2 powerheads in the tank. I try to do weekly 50% water changes but with school its more like 2 weeks.

Oh, and one last concern is cleaning. I don't really clean my gravel aside from water changes. Is cleaning sand much more difficult?
I will just comment on a couple of the previous responses. Re the African cichlid sand, I would not recommend this in a planted aquarium. It does have pH buffers added which are intended to keep the pH high, which is great for rift lake cichlids but not so great for planted community aquaria. The pH and softness should be lower than that usual for African cichlids. This sand, depending upon the chemistry of the tap water, might well end up raising it. I wouldn't risk it.

On the colour, plants and fish always look best with darker substrates (and backgrounds), and the fish feel more "comfortable." So as April and perhaps others mentioned, black/dark gray/brown natural colours are best.

As for gravel over sand, I prefer gravel (the smallest grain size, 1-2 mm) as it encourages good plant root development and does not risk the compaction that sand can cause if not careful. There are cleaning issues with sand that take more care. Sand is perfectly workable, not saying it isn't, but as you're asking I am simply stating my preference for small gravel which is supported by every plant authority I have so far read.

Byron.
 
#9 ·
You realize that when your work is done and its all set up you WILL have to post pictures right!? :)
 
#11 ·
Haha, just spent around 5 hours working on this and got on here to post some. I need more gravel, I put about 50 lbs in. I have neon & rummynose tetra, clown & kuhli loached (black and stripped), cherry & bamboo shrimp, rainbow & roseline sharks, SAEs, assorted Rainbows, rasbora hets, 2 spotted corydora, 2 panda corydora, a few plain corydora, and a twig catfish. I got rid of my sword tails but couldn't catch 1 black male so he is still in there too. Not sure I can name all my plants anymore but I'll try. I do have crypts, swords, anubias nana, flame moss, java fern, red dwarf lily, echinodorus, moeywort, wisteria, and i think baby tears, plus a few I can't name anymore.

The first 2 are the previous tank
 

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#13 ·
That will really stand out when the plants fill in and everything settles down. Nice work. The plants will sparkle as will the fish with the darker substrate. You do need a background, and I would suggest plain black paper or similar, nothing bright or picturesque that will detract from the plant and fish colours.

Byron.
 
#14 ·
DANG - That turned out nice!!!!!

Just a side question on the Red Tiger Lotus you got: Did it already look like this before the remodeling action? Reason I'm asking, I know they're VERY touchy plants to say the least, so it may look like it does due the work done. But if it looked so pale and thin paper leaf before the remodeling your Tiger Lotus is missing some nutrition there in my opinion...
 
#15 ·
Well, I just read a little about them and I guess I have a bulb that I can grow another plant from. The bulb was already there when I bought it. I also bought it under the name red dwarf lily, not sure if these are the same plants or not. Usually I have this beautiful purple red color that almost shimmers from the leaves. I routinely clip the leaves that reach the surface and usually have two or three every couple of days. I also trimmed some of the excess roots when I moved it. I think it looks like this because a few days ago I went through and did a lot of trimming to give the fish more room to swim around.

I know a few of my plants used to grow great and when I started dosing my fertilizer most of the plants benefited but, a few of them are essentially dead.

I also have a question about my echinodorus. I used to get leaves growing out to the sides, these are still sort of there. I am getting much taller leaves now. When I trim the leaves I am getting a lot of leftover growth from where I cut them, you can see it in the picture. Am I not trimming this correctly? This is one of my favorite plants.

(also lost a neon overnight, maybe the water change)
 
#16 ·
Well, I just read a little about them and I guess I have a bulb that I can grow another plant from. The bulb was already there when I bought it. I also bought it under the name red dwarf lily, not sure if these are the same plants or not. Usually I have this beautiful purple red color that almost shimmers from the leaves. I routinely clip the leaves that reach the surface and usually have two or three every couple of days. I also trimmed some of the excess roots when I moved it. I think it looks like this because a few days ago I went through and did a lot of trimming to give the fish more room to swim around.

I know a few of my plants used to grow great and when I started dosing my fertilizer most of the plants benefited but, a few of them are essentially dead.

I also have a question about my echinodorus. I used to get leaves growing out to the sides, these are still sort of there. I am getting much taller leaves now. When I trim the leaves I am getting a lot of leftover growth from where I cut them, you can see it in the picture. Am I not trimming this correctly? This is one of my favorite plants.

(also lost a neon overnight, maybe the water change)
On the Echinodorus, is it the E. bleheri in the front right corner in the photos (can't see the one in the back clearly), or the E. osiris just left of centre?

When you remove a leaf (when it starts yellowing, remove it, they do not recover) remove it from the crown where the leaf stalk begins. I just use my fingers on the stalk close to the bottom and push it away from the plant and it generally breaks off with a slight pull, especially if the leaf is dying the stalk will usually turn brown and easily pull apart at the crown. I would remove those stalk ends.

New leaves always emerge from the centre on Echinodorus, and the outer leaves are generally the ones that die off for whatever reason.

Byron.
 
#17 ·
What you got there is a Nymphea Lotus Red (Red Tiger Lotus). And yea after what this plant just went through then its understandable looking like this. Like I said VERY touchy plant. It'll recuperate from this fairly quick thou. I was just asking, cause if you'd have said you hadn't done nothing to it and it always looks like this then i'd have suggested fert's for it.
 
#18 ·
Angel079
What you got there is a Nymphea Lotus Red (Red Tiger Lotus). And yea after what this plant just went through then its understandable looking like this. Like I said VERY touchy plant. It'll recuperate from this fairly quick thou. I was just asking, cause if you'd have said you hadn't done nothing to it and it always looks like this then i'd have suggested fert's for it.
I mix my own. I've been too busy with school to make a new batch but I think my fertilizer degraded some. I have some cloudy pieces in it now. The growth on it has been explosive from the start with leaves reaching the top of the tank in 2-3 days and being 3 inches in diameter with amazing color, hopefully it bounces back.

Byron
On the Echinodorus, is it the E. bleheri in the front right corner in the photos (can't see the one in the back clearly), or the E. osiris just left of centre?
You can see it in the 3rd, 4th, and 6th photos. It is the E. osiris. I wanted to trim some of the live leaves as they were so large and sort of crowding the other plants. Would it be insufficient lighting why they are growing straighter up now, or perhaps the fertilizer and established root system contributing? I guess the stalks will move out and die off as new growth happens. I'll see if I can't get it any closer to the crown.

Correct me if I am wrong but I believe the crypts in the back are Cryptocyrne wendtii. I actually just cut out one inch sections in the middle to thin it out. My shrimp and loaches love them, almost sorry to have moved them to the back.

Byron
You do need a background, and I would suggest plain black paper or similar, nothing bright or picturesque that will detract from the plant and fish colours.
I am worried about black because I don't want to lose the black in the fish? I may pick up a pad of colored construction paper and try out different colors. Also thought about mixing in some green or blue gravel with the black but didn't want to do so without seeing some first. Guess the same reason I didn't add flourite for the plants.
 
#20 ·
I mix my own. I've been too busy with school to make a new batch but I think my fertilizer degraded some. I have some cloudy pieces in it now. The growth on it has been explosive from the start with leaves reaching the top of the tank in 2-3 days and being 3 inches in diameter with amazing color, hopefully it bounces back.

You can see it in the 3rd, 4th, and 6th photos. It is the E. osiris. I wanted to trim some of the live leaves as they were so large and sort of crowding the other plants. Would it be insufficient lighting why they are growing straighter up now, or perhaps the fertilizer and established root system contributing? I guess the stalks will move out and die off as new growth happens. I'll see if I can't get it any closer to the crown.

Correct me if I am wrong but I believe the crypts in the back are Cryptocyrne wendtii. I actually just cut out one inch sections in the middle to thin it out. My shrimp and loaches love them, almost sorry to have moved them to the back.


I am worried about black because I don't want to lose the black in the fish? I may pick up a pad of colored construction paper and try out different colors. Also thought about mixing in some green or blue gravel with the black but didn't want to do so without seeing some first. Guess the same reason I didn't add flourite for the plants.
It is your aquarium not mine so you should decorate it as you like; but I will just give my thought that black backgrounds are always good at bringing out the fish and plant colours, and a dark substrate. Maybe try dark gray background. Or for something very inexpensive, use a brown paper bag cut open. Any colour will distract from the fish and plants. And I would certainly not mix coloured gravel in with the black, it immediately draws attention to the substrate; but again, it is your aquarium. I think your fish will show their best colours with black alone, so that may be the reward.

On the E. osiris, my plants always grow much as yours in the photos, never flat as I have seen photos online or in books. Could be the light. I like the wavy effect of the leaves, and the three leaf ribs are quite pronounced in this species. I'd just as soon it didn't lay on the substrate where stuff collects under it and can lead to leaf rot.

I'm not good with crypt identification, the plants can change leaf size and even colour from one tank to another and I've never really studied them carefully, but I believe you are correct in that it is C. wendtii in the back.

Byron.
 
#19 ·
Mixing your own, that sounds REAL interesting to me..would you care to share ideas here http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/aquarium-plants/what-fertilzer-good-not-how-when-33261/ about this?

Yea it'll come back to that state quickly. Like I said they're really amongst THE touchiest tank plants I ever dealt with and all that happened now just became "too much" but give it a week and it'll be fine again.

You'd not really "loose" the fish color with the background. LOL @ the construction paper, I been doing that too and "testing" which color looks better. Its really all about pers pref. Or you can even use window tint for cars, looks pretty neat too IMO.
 
#21 ·
I think I like the outward appearance of the E osiris better but with all the stuff in my tank upward is probably better. Walgreens was limited and I did a black background but may experiment some more in the future. The black background is not detracting from the fish at all :). I added 25lbs more of gravel as well.

Mixing your own, that sounds REAL interesting to me..would you care to share ideas here http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/a...ow-when-33261/ about this?
Angel, I will try to comment. I have a lengthy thread where I stumbled through the math and all to fertilize my tank. Here is the link, maybe I'll post it on your thread too.

Looking for help on mixing dry chems - Fertilizing - Aquatic Plant Central
 
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