Alternative Substrates

brentling

brentling

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Aug 1, 2008
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Lexington, Kentucky
I am setting up a 125 gallon tank. It's purpose will be heavy plants/high light (72" 8 x 39 Watt T5HO) maybe Co2 down the road. I anticipate having several swordplants as the primary focus, and tons of other plants to fill in. It will have South American fish (cories, black ghost, cardinal tetras, black phantoms and Discus). I've read lots of stuff about Soilmaster Select as an alternative to ADA Aquasoil, Flourite and Eco-complete. I simply cannot justify $200-$500 for substrate. I've read about the repackaged SMS at aquariumplants.com. I can confirm that Lesco/John Deere (apparently the only distributor of SMS) is no longer selling the product and can no longer get it, although they were very helpful. I am considering between these types of substrate (each are linked):

1. Turface MVP
2. Schultz Aquatic Soil (also sold as Clay Soil Conditioner)
3. Espoma Aquatic Soil Perfector
4. Stalite Permatill (which apparently is identical to Espoma ASP except much cheaper and in bigger bags)
5. Aquariumplants.com Freshwater Planted Aquarium Substrate
6. Pond Care Aquatic Plant Soil

The Turface and Aquatic Soil are both fired clay based and fairly fine. The Espoma and Permatil are expanded slate and a little larger and darker. I can imagine mixing the chosen substrate with fine gravel or coarse sand if needed. I had really imagined a dark or black substrate, but am thinking I may have to go with reddish/natural. Also, as I know very well that this is experimental, I will not be adding fish for quite some time after the plants are in place and I will not be adding Discus until everything is shaken up and put through its paces (months from now).

Does anybody have any experience with any of these products? I have read plenty about SMS, Aquasoil, Flourite and Eco Complete on here and elsewhere, but have not heard mention of the Espoma, Aquatic Plant Soil or Stalite except on Orchid forums. I would love to hear some opinions! :)
 
aquariumplants substrate IS SMS lol I know that for a fact. Turface is the exact same thing too.

Schultz aquatic soil is fired clay, same as kitty litter.

No idea on the others.

With that many watts you might want to look at CO2 from the get go.
 
Official Info about SMS

This is the reply I got from Pro's Choice about Soilmaster select, just FYI.

Thank you for contacting us. We appreciate your interest in Pro's Choice
products.

Pro's Choice Select - Charcoal is being discontinued for business reasons,
and it is no longer being produced.

As we do not have a similar product to recommend, we must refer you to a
comparable product: Turface Pro League Gray which is sold by the bag. LESCO
should carry this product, but if not, please go to this website for more
information:

www.profileproducts.com
 
247Plants said:
aquariumplants substrate IS SMS lol I know that for a fact. Turface is the exact same thing too.
quote]


To clarify, Turface is not the same thing as SMS. It's a different, but very similar, product. Aquariumplants.com's substrate is the same thing as SMS, just repackaged and marked up.

I have not used turface, but a little search on google will tell you that it has a higher CEC that SMS. So therefore, in theory, it is a better substrate that SMS.



I've seen tanks that use SMS, ADA Aquasoil, and 3M Colorquartz sand that all look the same as far as level of difficulty and attractivness. The difference is what kind of dosing you have to do.
Click to expand...
 
I ended up ordering 100 lbs of Turface Gray today from Lesco. I hope is is dark enough! Tom Barr suggested I maybe mix some zeolite in with it. I've been busy scrounging that, now :) I'm thinking maybe zeolite on the bottom with some sort of iron enrichment (Laterite?), then the Turface. The zeolite should absorb ammonia and help with the initial cycling, then make a good place for bacteria to grow and release nitrates for the plant roots to grow. I'm very curious to see if this substrate mix will absorb nutrients, then adsorb them to feed the plant roots. I still need to make a decision about the CO2, too. Obviously, if I run all 316 Watts from my light, I'll need to use CO2. Guess I need to look for a used/repurposed CO2 setup now! The journey continues... I can't wait to get this set up! I've been looking at the empty tank every day for a loooong time!
 
they stopped making sms for some time now. i was also able to find a link on their site where they gave me a bunch of local places to buy. some only a couple miles away. the only down side with sms i guess its the same with turface is its light in weight. smaller plants like hair grass is harder to plant and plants up root super easy vs other stuff. make sure to wash it and let it dry before adding it to the tank. how much did you pay for the turface?

this is sms

29gal07292008.jpg
 
Thanks for the pic Mgamer. That would certainly be dark enough. Let it dry, eh? I wouldn't have thought that, intuitively. How come? I hear ya' about the light weight. I am wondering about adding a bag or 2 of Fluorite or dark gravel to help weigh it down. Would the Fluorite be heavy enough to do any good? Do you have any suggestions on how to make the Turface mix heavier? What do you think about adding Zeolite? I have found it for less than $4.00 per 50 oz container. I can get 12.5 pounds of it for less than $30.00 shipped. I will pay about $18.00 per 50 pound bag of the Turface. Thanks for all your help
 
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