Need advise on Best gravel or substrate for planted tank

[PohSan]

I started up planted tank on Jan this year and most of my plants is growing quite well, however I accidentally introduced Utricularia (or bladderwort) into my tank. After several days of removing it with tweezer, I dun think that I can removed this plant entirely. Finally I decided to do a overhaul on my tank and disposed all the riccia that is heavily infested by Utricularia. But before that, I hope to post a few questions which I am not so sure:
1) I am using substrate as the bottom layer and normal aquarium sand on top of subsrate. I saw petmart is selling kind of red-brown sand from Seachem which is specially for planted tank. Have anyone use it? Do I need to lay substate for this kind of sand?
2) I planned to limit the plant to all 3 type of Tonina Sp. and maybe some tiger lotus and E. Tell. I know Tonina Sp require High light and CO2, so is my Arcadia FL tube enough? or do I need to upgrade to PL. Or is there any FL that provide same light intensity as PL? Thank
3) E. Tell propagate by runner. Anyone know how to confine them to the designated area beside keep trimming them. Maybe E.Tell not a good idea as my fore-plant.
4) Oto not so effective on glass algae and scraping off by magnetic wiper or other mechanical means will disturb the fore-growing plants. What is the best way to remove algae?

Finally, I hope that my post is not too lengthy. Thank in advance.

[BFG]

ADA Aquasoil would be a good choice for the 3 tonina sp that you gonna keep. For algae eater, you could get the whiptail catfish. What is the size of your tank?

[hmph]

otos were very effective in my 'glass algae' breakout....mebbe you need to intro a few more otos into the tank? get the smaller/younger otos.....seems more hardworking. must be due to puberty [] (kidding.)

[PohSan]

Just a two ft tank.

[sherchoo]

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On 10/20/2003 12:56:13 AM

1) I am using substrate as the bottom layer and normal aquarium sand on top of subsrate. I saw petmart is selling kind of red-brown sand from Seachem which is specially for planted tank. Have anyone use it? Do I need to lay substate for this kind of sand?
2) I planned to limit the plant to all 3 type of Tonina Sp. and maybe some tiger lotus and E. Tell. I know Tonina Sp require High light and CO2, so is my Arcadia FL tube enough? or do I need to upgrade to PL. Or is there any FL that provide same light intensity as PL? Thank
3) E. Tell propagate by runner. Anyone know how to confine them to the designated area beside keep trimming them. Maybe E.Tell not a good idea as my fore-plant.
4) Oto not so effective on glass algae and scraping off by magnetic wiper or other mechanical means will disturb the fore-growing plants. What is the best way to remove algae?

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1. The red subtrate should be Seachem florite 'red'. Refer tho this seachem site. No experience with it yet but what I know is that it's quite similar to ADAsoil.

2. General rule for florescent light is 3W per gallon irregardless of FL or PL.

3. E.tell = Echinodorus tenellus? Anyway, plants by nature survive by propagating and most will spread their "offsprings" out to ensure maximum propagation. E.tenellus would spread themselves all over if not controlled. Trimming would be yor maos effective and easiest form of control.

4. "Glass" algae is most effectively removed by means of manual cleaning. Snails like flower snails may help but it leaves little egg-like spot everywhere which would be an eyesore. Otos IME never helped with such algae.

[loupgarou]

I'm using seachem substrate in my tank.

check http://fish.mirrorz.com

the red/brown gravel is it.

--
there is no base fert at all. crypts do just fine in my tank without any base fert. stem plants not so well. ( then again, I've never been able to keep stem plants even with basefert + gravel combo, likewise with tonina)

its more of a lack of care of fert regiment..

if you see the full tank shots, you can see a largish aponegeton bovianus, that has some root fert (actually I put in only 1 azoo fert ball for it)

[Nicky]

I use only Seachem Flourite (not the red version, pls note) for my 4ft. I am having a overwhelming success with my tonina (At least folks who have been to my place have said so). All other plants also grow very well in flourite. One thing I like it (over some Jap product) is that flourite is reasonably dense (heavy) and so can hold down plants better.

I do not have the problem of cloudiness even though I did not wash any grain of the flourite. I just let the water run so slowly that it takes hours to fill the tank.

[checkerboard]

i am using seachem flourite for my small tank.

nice and good, but on the contrary, i find that initial planting especially for stem plants can be quite difficult because of the grain size, but should be ok after small time.

no complaints about water clarity etc and growth of plants have all been good.

i used this method previously to stop glosso from spreading, it should work. Cut thin strips of plastic (from a mineral water bottle etc) and insert it horizontally into teh gravel to form a boundary for the foreground plants. make sure they overlap so plants would not jump through the gaps.

after a while when they are dense, you shouldnt be able to see the plastic strips anymore. effective and cheap.

[benetay]

I'm using power sand and aquasoil for my 2ft guppy tank, seems like carity of water is kept good.
Easy to plant with the soft porous gravel , good for tonina sp, ericaulon etc etc those more demanding plants need lower pH to actually THRIVE.

For Algae eating fishes , i'll recommend Otocinclus a few, if you find them too common and not wish to punch your bioload too high you may consider getting Zebra otos and other Parocinclus as algae eating fishes.

Like this one
Parotocinclus Maculicauda

Small algae eating machine that doesn't grow big size roughly about 3cm

Or this commonly available now


More or less the foreground has to be disturb , frequently or oftenly .

Using Power Compact light has a winning edge over FL in intensity which it can penetrates the water far better than FL . PL is relatively hotter to touch than FL.

You might want to consider adding more base fert as your tiger lotus will absorb tons of your nutrients from the fert.

A wrong conception on otocinclus, they are efficient algae eater but soft ones. Green spotted algae on your glass will not be eradicated from otocinclus due to it's classification as Hard algae. Maybe you should try doing it weekly on scraping your tank glass. Most of us here can't run away from it. It's just how often you do it.

Just a note, a nice tank is usually one that does a lot of hardwork behind it. There is no shortcut to success or beautiful aquarium .

My 2cts worth.
Benetay
[]

[Kingfisher]

Seachem Flourite cost how much? Is it as expensive as ADA Soil?

[benetay]

Cheaper. If i remembered correctly seachem is $60 while ADA only $40+

[Kingfisher]

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On 10/20/2003 10:54:37 PM

Cheaper. If i remembered correctly seachem is $60 while ADA only $40+
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For a 4x2x2ft, the substrate alone will cost a bomb. Guess will stick to base fertilizer and gravels.

[vinz]

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On 10/20/2003 10:54:37 PM

Cheaper. If i remembered correctly seachem is $60 while ADA only $40+
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Flourite is about $40 per 7kg at petmart.

[PohSan]

thank for all the advises. I guess this is what I am going to do:
1) Get Seachem florite or ADA aquasoil. think 7Kg is enough for 2 ft tank for 5cm thick.Both of them is highly recommended. What about fertilizer? I might get some monster root stick for this.
2) Avoid planting too close to front glass so wiping the glass will not disturb the plants.
3) Get more otos, Zebra otos, Parocinclus. increase the bioload slowly.
4) don't plant in Echinodorus tenellus.

Thank

[TanVincent]

.....but E-tenne is so nice in planted as foreground....sigh

[PeterGwee]

Get the seachem flourite...its good stuff and does not skew your ability to get a consistent CO2 level. Basic needs..light, CO2(20-35ppm), N, K, traces, P.

[wks]

Is base fert required when using Seachem flourite?

[Kingfisher]

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On 10/21/2003 8:32:37 PM

Is base fert required when using Seachem flourite?
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If you are growing deep rooted plants.

[PeterGwee]

No you don't...flourite itself would do. The rest can be supplement through the water column.

[Kingfisher]

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On 10/21/2003 9:16:38 PM

No you don't...flourite itself would do. The rest can be supplement through the water column.
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Then how deep must the substrate be if using just Flourite?