demanding plant substrates

W

wannabefishguru

learning to be the best
Jun 29, 2005
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somewhere by the grain elevator, iowa
okay i an new to this planted tank and i have a list of plants that are heavily relying on the substrate what kind of substrate would be suited for my condition

flourite?
eco-complete plant substrate?
Pure laterlite?
Flouro base?

or a combination all substrates can be found here http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/NavResults.cfm?N=2004+113555

thanks for your input :D
 
If you add nutrients to the water column then flourite is (IMO) the best choice. If you do not add nutrients to the water column...well that greatly depends. Plants, source water parameters, lights, CO2 addition(depending on lighting levels), etc.

I plan on adding nutrients to the water column so I mainly depend on my substrate being a long standing source of Iron, so I go with flourite. But it depends on what you want from the tank and how you plan to administer it. Adding these details would greatly help someone with assisting you.
 
well most of my plants like i said demend on the substrate for nutrients and they are medium to high lighting so i guess i would have to impliment C02 via DIY or pressurized. well here is my list of plants i am planning of doing

Tropica Sword Echinodorus parviflorus
Pygmy chain Sword Echinodorus tenellus
Crystalwort Riccia Fluitans
Striaght vallis Vallisneria spiralis
Stargrass Heteranthus zosterifolia
Tropical Hornwort Ceratophyllum submersum
Green cabomba Combomba caroliniana

well this help

ps i have a total of 4 background species 1 middle 1 front and 1 floating is this to much for a 29 gallon south american biotype

i am planning on having 8 blackskirt tetras and a tiger pleco and if i decide to maybe 3 swordtails and 2 upside down catfish which i already have.
 
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The swords will do fine with water column ferts. After the parviflorus has been in place a couple of years, some root tabs may give it a boost.

Crystalwort is water column feeding, ditto hornwort, ditto cabomba. My vals do better w/water coulmn than with substrate feeding but can use either. I do not do stargrass, cannot resond to that one.
 
I am going for a South American biotype

29 gallon tank

malaysian driftwood

plants i plan on getting

Tropica Sword Echinodorus parviflorus
Pygmy chain Sword Echinodorus tenellus
Crystalwort Riccia Fluitans
Striaght vallis Vallisneria spiralis
Stargrass Heteranthus zosterifolia
Tropical Hornwort Ceratophyllum submersum
Green cabomba Combomba caroliniana

Fish

8 Black skirt tetras
1 tiger pleco

and i might throw in 3 swordtails and 2 upside down catfish
i have all of these fish from a previos tank

what should i do HOB or canister?
and what kind of media for them would be best?
should i go DIY of presurized C02?


RTR,

so basically i can just get away with water column nutrients? and in a few years start applying fert tabs along with liquid nutes?

so ill be fine with pure flourite?

and what is first layer pure laterlite? is that the stuff that if it gets exposed i might get an algea bloom like mad?
 
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All those plants do exceptionally well with sand and water column ferts.
Flourite is nice and will help, but it more cycling, not so much the nutrients.

I like the ADa soils, I do not use the powersand, but you can if you so chose for added cost.

You'll still need to dose something to the water column either way.
Good CO2 or Excel dosing is going to be needed to have these plants do well.

Regards,
Tom Barr
 
Tom or anybody,

i think i will go with the flourite for my substrate since i don't even know what ada soil is. you said sand is acceptable for rooted plants, but i thought sand was to compact. if so then can i use tahitian moon sand? or would it be just better if i go with flourite instead?

now i have been reading and am wondering since a 40-50% water change is favorable weekly do i just retest my water and redose or is it possible that i can have the water already dosed in a storage bin or is that impossible b/c of the build up of copper and different test readings?

what kind of testing equipment do i need, what kind is recommended?
is all the kinds of nutrients (micro and macro) listed on the fertilizer sticky?

what is kh and gh and dh?

and is pressurized co2 needed or is that just overkill?

thanks again.
 
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i am so lost in this c02 stuff, i was reading on site and i got scrambled in the head when he talked about measuring co2. can any one justify this, maybe break it down and put it in stupid terms for me. the website is here http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_co2chart.htm

thanks again oh and see if you can answer my previous questions.
 
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