Substrate screw-up?

illiswiller

illiswiller

Prevention - the best medicine!
Jan 11, 2005
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Jeeze so many questions! I appreciate it so much! :bowing:

I think I just realized I screwed up on substrate....my tank is cycling and I'm trying to plan...

I really like the live plants and have had a lot of luck w/ them in my 10 gallon. But I choose a larger river rock~1/4-1/2 inch size for substrate w/o planting soil under it. So if I want to add lots of live plants can I mix in a planting soil w/ it? Or should I try to scrape back the gravel and add something like Seachem Flourite Plant Substrate?

THANKS! Also, can someone direct me to an easy to follow DIY CO2?? Is it possible to make it in something smaller than a 2 liter??

My learning curve is on the up-swing hopefully!
 
illiswiller said:
Jeeze so many questions! I appreciate it so much! :bowing:

I think I just realized I screwed up on substrate....my tank is cycling and I'm trying to plan...

I really like the live plants and have had a lot of luck w/ them in my 10 gallon. But I choose a larger river rock~1/4-1/2 inch size for substrate w/o planting soil under it. So if I want to add lots of live plants can I mix in a planting soil w/ it? Or should I try to scrape back the gravel and add something like Seachem Flourite Plant Substrate?

THANKS! Also, can someone direct me to an easy to follow DIY CO2?? Is it possible to make it in something smaller than a 2 liter??

My learning curve is on the up-swing hopefully!
Click to expand...


1/4 - 1/2 inch river rock is much too large for plants to root properly. You're looking for something that is 2 - 3 mm in diamter (don't have my calculator/conversion tables handy at the moment). I would definitely take out the river rock and try to find something more appropriate (your suggestion of flourite is a good one).

As for DIY CO2, I'm pretty sure if you search, you can find lots of instructions. I believe 2L is the smallest working size bottle, as smaller ones just aren't going to produce enough CO2, etc.
 
Yikes thought so. :-(
It is fish gravel though....the girl at the LFS said it was better than smaller stuff b/c it doesn't suck up into the vacuum as much. UGH should have found this forum earlier.

I just measured....Most pieces are smaller 1/2 inch - mostly a couple centimeters.... I hate to take it out b/c I've been trying to finish cycling. Mixing in smaller stuff, or only where the plants will be isn't an option? How about planting on lava rocks?? I really like how it looks right now - plus it's growing my bacteria - hooray
THANKS!
 
I'm afraid that that's still a bit too large to grow plants well.

The problem with larger sized gravel is that uneaten food and fish waste can slip in between the cracks and rot, causing nightmares
 
IMO, you can plant in shallow seperate containers and put them into your existing gravel with little troubles.

The best I have seen are the planter bases (terra cotta bottoms for planters) that can be anywhere in size from 2 inches across to 12 inches across and larger. Since plain unglazed unused terra cotta is safe for aquariums (clean it well first, the flourite too) you can get a bag of flourite and put that in the base, plant your desired plants and put it into your tank. It also has the convience of removing the entire thing if the need arises without pulling up roots half way across the tank.

If you don't like the contrasting colors much then put a thin coating of aquarium safe silicone around the upper lip and side of the base and press some of your existing gravel into the silicone and let it cure. To disguise it more in the tank you can put a very thin layer of the gravel on top of the flourite after you get the plants in and the base in the tank.

Good luck with it!
 
You were given bad info at the LFS. Large gravel is a mess in any tank as it cannot be vacuumed well and hides all the excess food, fish poop, etc. It is worthless for plants. Get it out and set with the right stuff.
 
You could also use something like this
lg_608663_23853D.jpg

A planting Rock!
You can find them
Here
 
If there are no fish present in the tank, you could toss in some pool filter sand. The stuff has a nice look to it (light colored) and with some moving, sifting and shifting, could work its way into the cracks between your rock substrate. Plants root into sand very well. Of course, this still leve the problem of cleaning the large rocks...
 
OK - Can you guys yeah or nay my solution to the problem? I tried to compromise between taking out ALL of my substrate by taking out some - BUT mixing in a whole bag of Shultz aquatic potting soil (I looked it up - same ingredient as Seachem, and someone recommend it in a post on the plants forum). So when I look now, there doesn't seem to be big "holes" in the floor. I also set some small lava rocks on their sides and filled the hole w/ the soil to plant in and ordered some planting rocks which I will do the same with. Was that an OK compromise???

PS there have been fish in it for about 3 weeks - and I'm done cycling. Didn't realize this substrate issue till last week - and didn't want to (couldn't) remove fish and take out everything ....so hope compromise is OK if I vacuum religiously.
 
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