# Substrate for best results in non Co2 tank



## Lord_Lucan (12 Feb 2014)

Hi chaps

Been reading the posts on substrates and have got myself in more of a spin. Changing from gravel to a substrate more ideal for plant growth and need advice.
For ease of use had decided on Caribsea but was put off it by a couple of people so wanted to gauge opinions on here as I only want to do this once.
Not too bothered about cost, just want an easy life. Quite intrigued by cat litter though.
I realise everyone has their favourites and everything is subjective, I also realise that this subject has probably already been done to death before but all comments welcome.

Cheers


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## darren636 (13 Feb 2014)

Certainly a fertile substrate is the easy way to go.

You can pre treat molar clay/ cat litter with npk is you choose.

If not then there a a bunch of soil based Gucci substrates out there.

Oliver knott

Colombo flora

ada

Tetra

tmc ,

Etc etc. . Pick one


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## Lord_Lucan (13 Feb 2014)

darren636 said:


> Certainly a fertile substrate is the easy way to go.
> 
> You can pre treat molar clay/ cat litter with npk is you choose.
> 
> ...


 
I like the sound of cat litter, not so much because it's cheap but because it is a bit quirky. What is NPK?


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## stu_ (13 Feb 2014)

Nitrogen
Phosphorus
Potassium
The problem with cat litter for me is the colour & it's too light
If you don't move stuff around too much then maybe consider soil.
There's a write up in the "Tutorials" section by Troi.


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## Rob P (13 Feb 2014)

I've just set up a low tech using columbo florabase. I'm finding it more awkward than gravel/sand to work as it's quite floaty, but getting better with it now. I've seen some excellent growth on some of my plants in the space of a week 

(have a look at post #33 here ADA Mini M (Low Tech) - Planted, sort of... | Page 2 | UK Aquatic Plant Society and see how well the tennellus is doing )


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## Alastair (13 Feb 2014)

Lord_Lucan said:


> Hi chaps
> 
> Been reading the posts on substrates and have got myself in more of a spin. Changing from gravel to a substrate more ideal for plant growth and need advice.
> For ease of use had decided on Caribsea but was put off it by a couple of people so wanted to gauge opinions on here as I only want to do this once.
> ...



Hi 
For low tech non co2 just opt for a bag of john innes number 3 as a base layer (supplies your nutrients npk etc) ensure you leave a cm gap at the front and sides give your cat litter a seriously good rinse and cap the john innes with it. Plant with the tank substrate only slightly wet as to help restrict floating plants.  Once the cat litter has been in a while it becomes heavier. Plus the base soil is what will grip the plants.  Or choose a different capping layer either pool filter sand, one of the unipac gravels or sands etc. All very cheap and cheerful. 
The john innes will also provide a form of carbon directly to the plant roots


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## Richardbunting (2 Mar 2014)

JI3 and play sand is what I'm going for, i think the flora base from MA gives up nutrients to quick, i had excellent results with my current tank in the first few weeks, however everything has slowed right down after 2 weeks.

Edit: slowed results with flora base, plus i don't like the unatural look


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## BigDaddy (21 Mar 2014)

Richardbunting said:


> JI3 and play sand is what I'm going for


How deep of each?


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## Richardbunting (23 Mar 2014)

Well theres no hard and fast rule but my setup is having success with 2.5 cm even-ish distribution of ji3 topped with a gravel tidy then a mix of sand to a depth of 2 cm, coastal pebbles and petrified wood.

Theres a lot of talk of hydrogen sulphide being a problem in deep substrate tanks, but i've had no dramas yet. The key from my understanding is distribution of flow.

Oh and invest in a cheep soil sieve, the ji3 i have has quite a lot of organic matter in it. So i would reccomend it to prevent terrestrial roots decomposing in your water column


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