# Should I change my substrate?



## fishbro (6 Nov 2018)

Hey guys. So I never really gave this much thought before, but after expanding my knowledge of the planted tank and really enjoying it (co2 is awesome!), I am wondering if I should replace my substrate. 

I've had the same substrate for years now from back when I used to keep a few large fancy goldfish. It's a fairly chunky gravel and does look nice, it's not to compact either so roots are generally ok. The negative is that it shows dirt very quickly, plus I gather I really should have some kind of proper substrate for the plants. 

They do currently seem to be growing well though, so I am not sure if it is even worth the effort and cycling. I don't really have a holding tank for all my fish and shrimp either, so would mean having them in a bucket until the tank heats up again after a total water change (could take a long time).

Has anyone gone through this process before and can share some advice? Thanks!


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## Kezzab (6 Nov 2018)

If it aint broke, dont fix it.


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## alto (6 Nov 2018)

Depends really

Change is easy enough on livestock if you plan in advance, & with suitable bin arrangements fish are fine in there for a few days to weeks so there’s no time pressure

Some plants will do fine with a coarser substrate, some are less keen  
Water column fertilization can generally compensate for substrate lack (to some degree)

The move to aquarium soils came through optimizing conditions so more plant species will thrive, growth density & type of growth changes with these enriched, compact substrates 

Just choose appropriate plant species for your style of aquarium keeping  

If you’re struggling with algae, then change things gradually ... or if impatient like me, change a lot fast or even  everything 

I glanced at your post history but don’t have much idea what your tank is like re plants or livestock 



fishbro said:


> until the tank heats up again after a total water change (could take a long time).


Confused ... why not just set your taps to suitable water temp when refilling tank after water change etc?

I use a Python water change system so water goes directly into my tanks, I just dose Prime for total tank volume (recommended for this style of water change, there is FAQ & considerable discussion on Seachem’s website why this is best)


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## Lee iley (6 Nov 2018)

I did a total rescape in August. Put my fish/ shrimp in a bucket over night. Took everything out of my tank and started from scratch. New sand new soil (tropica soil) all new plants etc. Set it all up put new water in to the right temp put all fish straight bk in all was good. 
Cheers Lee.


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## tam (6 Nov 2018)

If you like how the tank looks and are happy with how the plants are growing there is no need to swap. You can grow plants in plain gravel if you are feeding them in the water column (liquid ferts).


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## fishbro (9 Nov 2018)

Whoops sorry forgot to reply to this  Thanks for the replies!



alto said:


> Depends really
> 
> 
> Confused ... why not just set your taps to suitable water temp when refilling tank after water change etc?
> ...



I also use a python since I have quite bad back trouble, after years of lugging around 15L buckets it's amazing. The only tap I can use really though is the outdoor one so the water tends to be chilly. When I'm doing a change I never re-fill the tank quickly, always let it just trickle in so the drop in temp is smaller and not so sudden. Obviously if I was to replace all of the water that is going to get quite cold and take a long time to heat up again (when I last did this it took almost a whole day or something, even with a 300w heater)

I have heard people say not to use the hot water supply from the house if you have tanks in the loft because it stands etc (we do, I have to put water softener stuff in them every 6 months because our water is really hard). This is probably a load of cobblers, but I have pretty much always used water from the outdoor tap with prime and never had a problem. My params fairly closely match both of the LFS here so I am not too keen to change anything much at the moment, sometimes best to leave it alone haha  

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The plants do seem to be rooting well in this gravel so I may well just leave it like most of you have said. I guess my main gripe is the gravel gets dirty quickly (as it's a light colour) and trying to gravel vac it now I am heavily planted (and have shrimps) is a bit difficult. I'm hoping to get a load more shrimps soon, so perhaps they will help me in cleaning the crud that collects on the bottom?

The algae situation is improving a bit recently, but it is still there. I have started double dosing flourish excel and have already noticed some of the algae dying off, so I will continue dosing that for a month or so while doing more frequent changes to see if I can kill it all off. Not sure if I should re-install my uv steriliser that I had on the tank previously (ehiem reeflex), I don't recall having so much algae when I was using this but it's a pain to squeeze in my cabinet.


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