[kaz65]

Hi I was wondering if somebody can advise me on the best way to add more substrate to my 55gal tank, what is the max depth that the substrate should be. I am new to fish keeping and need all the help I can get. My tank has been up and running for 7 months now.
I would like to have more plants, but so far they just don't seem to be doing well at all....any ideas?
My tank just seems boring!!!!
So any ideas will be much appreciated. :D

[crazy4fish]

well first of all, welcome to the forum! :D i think you will find all the help you need here

now i have plastic plants in my tank (although i would love live ones) so i dont know everything about live plants, but i do know some of the basics. if your plants arent doing well it might be because of temp or the type of substrate you have. what kind of plants do you have in your tank? and what is the temp and substrate?

[kaz65]

Originally Posted by crazy4fish

well first of all, welcome to the forum! :D i think you will find all the help you need here

now i have plastic plants in my tank (although i would love live ones) so i dont know everything about live plants, but i do know some of the basics. if your plants arent doing well it might be because of temp or the type of substrate you have. what kind of plants do you have in your tank? and what is the temp and substrate?

Thanks for the welcome
I have some plastic plants in my tank too. The substrate is a med size gravel, and the temp runs between 78-80.
As for the plants, I have no idea what they are I just bought them and put them and put them in the tank.
Is it possible to add more substrate without having an adverse effect on the fish?

[crazy4fish]

well they may not be growing because of the gravel. i dont think it provides the right nutrients for them. i cant say if the temp is not high or low if the type of plant is unknown but it shouldnt be too much of a problem.

as for the substrate, you could try taking out a good amount of the gravel (you dont have to take it all out but at least half or so) and then putting down a layer of eco-complete or another "plant-nutricous" substrate. after you put down the eco-complete you can put more gravel on top (but you may want to put your plants in before you put the rest of the gravel back just to make it easier). just make sure that when you put more plants in in the future that their roots are in the eco-complete layer.

does that make sense to you? let me know if it doesnt, and i'll explain it defferently.

[crazy4fish]

i forgot to mention in my last post that changing the gravel wont hurt the fish. it will cloud up the water for a bit but other than that it should be fine.

[kaz65]

Thank you so much for the advice :D And yes it makes perfect sense, my main concern was harming the fish by taking out and adding new substrate

[turtleman]

I am using a mixture of Eco-Complete and Flourite (equal amounts). I've read that you should have at least 3" but I have closer to 5". When I first added water to mine, it got super cloudy. So cloudy, you could not see the bottom when looking down from the top. I had to do many water changes to clear it up. Got different problems now. Substrate is rich in nutrients, add plants and adequate light for plants to grow, and wah lah...serious algae outbreak right in the middle of cycling. From my experience, you may want to have a small tank you can put the fish in while your primary tank is going through all the changes.

There is also another thread named "Changing Substrate" in this same area. Follow it as well.

[kaz65]

Originally Posted by turtleman

I am using a mixture of Eco-Complete and Flourite (equal amounts). I've read that you should have at least 3" but I have closer to 5". When I first added water to mine, it got super cloudy. So cloudy, you could not see the bottom when looking down from the top. I had to do many water changes to clear it up. Got different problems now. Substrate is rich in nutrients, add plants and adequate light for plants to grow, and wah lah...serious algae outbreak right in the middle of cycling. From my experience, you may want to have a small tank you can put the fish in while your primary tank is going through all the changes.

There is also another thread named "Changing Substrate" in this same area. Follow it as well.

Thank you so much for the info, it is much appreciated
I will take a look at the other thread :)

[turtleman]

Everything I've read leads me to believe that the problem is too many nutrients. Why would I need to add more? I keep hoping that once my plants get established, they'll remove all the excess nutrients and deprive the algae.

[turtleman]

Sorry, I think I posted that last reply in the wrong thread. Just learning this forum and got confused.