# Cheap ideas for planted tank substrates?



## Ryan Young (12 May 2016)

Hi all,
I have a 200L aquarium, heavily planted but frankly it is a complete mess.
I have spent a lot of money to get this to where I want but am still not happy with the results...
The plants I have, I like and have an idea of a new layout which will be more of an experiment for me over anything else.

*The question I have is, does anyone know what is the best substrate or gravel etc. (anything) that is quite good for plants to grow well and not change water parameters much?*

I understand that it will not compare to the combo I have at the moment which is a JBL Manado substrate with JBL soil base however it has just become really messy and dont really want to spend that sort of money on it again preferably around £20-£30 to provide a good layer (2" or so).
Cheers


----------



## BigTom (12 May 2016)

'Original Aqua Soil' sold in blue bags at your local garden centre will cost you about a tenner, grows plants like crazy and won't mess with your water parameters too much. On the downside, it'll need a sand cap, is very messy if disturbed and will leach ammonia for a few weeks unless you mineralise it first. 

Sent from my HUAWEI GRA-L09 using Tapatalk


----------



## Ryan Young (12 May 2016)

Thanks will take a look at that


----------



## zozo (12 May 2016)

Actualy you are asking a rather difficult question   without an easy answer..

The best doesn't excist like just the best..  It all depends on how you are planing to setup your scape and what are you planning to grow. There are many different plants with many different needs.. The best substrates are the ones aimed to grow the most difficult plants as well, but since this isn't in your budget  you have to do with less.. Less doens't mean an ugly tank, it's just some kind of plants might be not an option.  

But i'm a cheapo as well and i have relatively good results on Akadama high tech and low tech.. It also doesn't do so much with water parameters. If you like something completely inert Fuji sand might be an option, tho this is also pretty hard and rocky, if grain size it to large some plants might not like it and you should avoid digging fish spieces. Also a good idea to add some clay to the fuji sand.

Akadama is basicaly clay and will eventualy turn into a softer clay substance over time depends on how much you poke around in it. Fuji sand stays rock hard it's a vulcanic ash..

Both come very cheap..


----------



## Ryan Young (12 May 2016)

hey, thanks for the reply. I think my cheapest and possibly 'best' option is to clean my JBL manado up some, add another 10L or so and plant from there. I have had great plant results using Manado. Trouble is I was using JBL soil also and have had the tank for about 1 1/2 - 2 years & still showing great results so not sure whether to buy some soil as suggested by BigTom but not a fan of the sound of ammonia leaks as it is an established tank with a lot of fish in and don't want them to die. -> unless mineralising it doesn't take too long?
Either way this was kind of a spur of the moment thing and I should have thought it through first and am now in a situation where I need to sort it so I would say providing I look into 'how to mineralise soil' and it does take too long my best bet is to buy some more Manado to bulk the substrate up a little. Buy some more root tabs and use a base of aquarium soil.
Cheers, let me know whether this sounds like a good plan.
Ryan


----------



## Jamie McGrath (13 May 2016)

BigTom said:


> Original Aqua Soil' sold in blue bags at your local garden centre will cost you about a tenner



Do you recommend this particular brand or is any aquatic compost okay? What garden centres sell the original aqua soil? is aqua soil better than the John innnes brand that lots of people have mentioned in the past?


----------



## BigTom (13 May 2016)

Jamie McGrath said:


> Do you recommend this particular brand or is any aquatic compost okay? What garden centres sell the original aqua soil? is aqua soil better than the John innnes brand that lots of people have mentioned in the past?



The advantage of the 'Original' stuff is that is doesn't contain loads of limestone which can greatly increase your pH and KH. I'm not sure what it does actually have mixed in, but all the other soils I've used have have pretty major impacts on water hardness, even the aquatic/pond soils.

For example, here are the recipes for JI composts - http://www.gardeningdata.co.uk/soil/john_innes/john_innes.php

As far as I can tell, the 'Original' stuff is just a nice lean soil with not too many additives. In terms of where to buy it, my very generic local garden centre has it, so I'm assuming others do too! I have seen it on Amazon/eBay in the past too, but you tend to pay through the nose for postage.

Looks like this -


----------



## sciencefiction (13 May 2016)

Ryan Young said:


> so not sure whether to buy some soil as suggested by BigTom but not a fan of the sound of ammonia leaks as it is an established tank with a lot of fish in and don't want them to die. -> unless mineralising it doesn't take too long?



Mineralizing takes weeks unless you have really good weather that dries the soil over a day. To mineralize you need to wet the soil and dry it, about 5 times. To make it easier, spread it thinly on some sort of bin bags or whatever you find suitable.
The fast option is to bake the soil in the oven but that may stink  Either way, if you mineralize and use cycled filters, there'll be no spikes. I never got any, did it on 3 tanks.
I never used JBL manado but I used JBL aqua soil and nothing grew for me. I persevered for about 6-8 months, then binned it. Mineralized top soil has been way better base substrate for me. You can cap it with anything not too fine and not too large.


----------



## Ryan Young (13 May 2016)

I cycled to my LFS today and bought some more soil and Manado, bloody killer to cycle back. After a day of trying to remove the previous soil/dirt from the Manado it kind of worked but the water has now become quite brown and dont think I washed it long enough... I am kind of regretting messing with any of it now cause its a mess and dont think I will get the same growth back from my plants. 
At least I have learnt that re scapes take time, not something to be rushed


----------



## Easternlethal (14 May 2016)

If your filters are good enough you can use pretty much whatever you want. Lots of mechanical filtration to remove the small particles and lots of biofiltration to remove unwanted organics. So if you have an issue with the soil focus on your filtration and cleaning regime.


----------



## Easternlethal (14 May 2016)

Also get lots of flow into the tank to keep water flowing over the substrate. This will pick up whatever shouldn't be in your tank.


----------

