Best height of substrate(ADA)?

[flashsilva]

Hi people i want to setup one aquarium whit 60centimeters of length for my Crystal Red in order to separate crs from cbs.

My question is what is the best height of substrate?

I have seen some Asian aquariums with 10cm of height of ADA, i'm going to buy a bag of Amazonia and i have a friend that will give me 8kg of old Amazonia and i'm thinking of putting the old one over the new.
What is best, the old over the new or the new over the old?

Best regards
Fábio Silva

[bluebubbles]

If you are not going to have rooted plants or shallow root plants like fissiden, riccia, mosses and nana, the height need not be thick. If you plan to have rooted plants, than at least 3 inches lor. Of course the higher your tank size, the more advantage of having thicker soil for DEEP rooted plants. 8Kg ADA is really a lot for 60cm tank - approx 4 inches thick. If you need something to cover over it, just get a small pack of soil to lay over thinly will do. My 2cts worth opinion.

[Fuzzy]

In a 60cm long tank, 10cm is way more substrate than you need.

Even 5cm is still probably way more than you need unless you intend to have plants that are deeply rooted, or for some reason your tank is incredibly tall.

I would advise to put the old soil underneath and layer the fresh soil on top of it.

[flashsilva]

hi, thanks for the answers.

I want to put some Valisneria nana and Cryptocoryne wendtii "brown.

Guys you think the old aquasoil Amazonia is bad idea?

[Navanod]

IMHO, old soil comes with 2 problems:

1. Depleted nutrients. Soils normally depletes after about a year depending on plants and water changes. You may want to bury a few soil fertilizer tablets if you're thinking of using deep rooted plants

2. Pests and exotic algae. If you don't know what kinda pests and algae are in your friend's tank, you may be introducing them into your tank. Snails, worms and exotic algaes like black brush, staghorn and bluegreen may still be hidden in the soil.
Sunning the soil very well will kill most pests but some eggs may survive. Algae...may take alot of sunning and drying.

[ranmasatome]

On top of that.. i dont know if you'll physicall be able to transfer the old ADA without too much degrading. The soil breaks up very easily when old. If you want to do this you will have to dry up all the soil first.

For asian tanks with 10cm of soil..on my personal experience, i don't think the 10cm is all homogenous throughout the tank. What i mean is that due to scaping, sometimes the soil behind the tank is taller than the front to give a sense of perspective. My 3 feet tank has around 20cm of ADA at the rear but only 5cm in the front. I don't think you need that much soil for your tank unless you have in mind what you want to scape already.