# substrate  advice please



## aquascape1987 (7 Nov 2014)

Hi,
I'm new here and also  to aquascaping and was hoping to get some advice on substrates firstly.I've kept tropical aquariums for 3 years, but not properly  planted ones so am a complete  noob to scaping and hi tech tanks but am currently doing a lot of reading and research on the subject.I have recently upgraded  my aquarium  to a juwel trigon 190 which is currently filtered with a fluval  g6,and am in the  process of  researching and designing an aquascape. I'm just about  to order a co2 art  'complete' co2 system for regulated  co2 supply. The the  type of scape I am hoping to create is going to have deeper substrate at the back and sides  and be carpeted with glossostigma or similar plants, to create a depth perspective, with a couple of other (yet  undecided plants). The gloso carpet  however will be the main  feature of the scape. Im looking at ADA Amazonia for the substrate ( selected  after reading  George farmers  guide to various substrates) but am willing to look at others if anyone  has any suggestions? The main questions I am looking for answers to are...

Guidance on full substrate set up?  The composition and order of layers?
Should I use one complete  substrate only or a mixture?
Can complete substrates be bulked with anything to make  my deeper substrate more cost effective without affecting plant  growth? Eg bulked with standard inert gravel  or lower  layers inert gravel with only top layers  in ADA Amazonia or similar?


Any help and advice would be much appreciated.


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## foxfish (7 Nov 2014)

My advice would be to have fun looking around the forum as all your questions are answered in finite detail ... but yes Amazonia is a fantastic choice!
Buy as much as you can justify just bare in mine that virtually any form of popular substrate is also fine to use.
If you dose fertiliser in to the tank the substrate need not contain any additional ferts.


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## Vivian Andrew (8 Nov 2014)

See the below link it might help you to select suitable substrate

http://www.ukaps.org/index.php?page=guide-to-substrates


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## Vivian Andrew (8 Nov 2014)

oops sorry u already went through the guide, i didn't see tht in ur post.


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## aquascape1987 (8 Nov 2014)

Thanks for the replies guys. Yea I've read the guide to substrates, and I have trawled through quite a lot of stuff on here and  elsewhere but at the moment,  I'm struggling  to find specific answers to the questions I've put. Although I did read a thread  last night  suggesting that the type and composition of the substrate is less important if you are dosing your tank with ferts, so I was thinking of putting a first layer of new inert gravel  down, taking my existing inert gravel, washing and mixing with Amazonia for the next layer and having a top layer of pure Amazonia or similar to plant in. Any thoughts on that?

Cheers Richard


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## foxfish (8 Nov 2014)

Well you don't actually say how deep you want the substrate to be? 
If it will be 12" high at the back then sloping to 1" then you might want to glue a tight fitting polystyrene wedge in place first. but if you are looking at a more conventional slope, you can mix and match as you like.
Heavy small grains like sand will just find its way to the bottom but Amazonia should stay on top of gravel for some time at least!
You could try to separate the layers with a fine mesh or just use one type of substrate ... there are no rules.
Bare in mind Amazonia is black & it can be difficult to keep different substrates separate over time.
Cat litter is popular & there is a black, Bonsai baked clay alternative that is a faction of the price of ADA.


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## Michael W (8 Nov 2014)

Have you considered using something like Moler clay as a substrate? Moler clay is basically bonsai soil which is inert but has the ability to hold onto nutrients. All you need to do is just wash it and use it as a substrate. The EI ferts will make the substrate fertilised when you dose your aquarium due to the moler clay's high CEC. Alternatively, you can place the moler clay in a bucket of water and load EI salts in it.

This will result in a cheaper but still as effect substrate as the ADA and other brands of substrate. I use Cat Litter in my tanks with nice results.

Edit: Fox fish beat me to it.


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## aquascape1987 (8 Nov 2014)

Thanks mate. I've not fully  decided on the max height of the slope as yet. I have read about the filling lower layers of substrate  into tights  and forming the slope and shape of the scape  with this method before capping with the final layer. Think this is something  I'm going try to ensure that everything stays in place. Do you know anything good to use as the dine mesh barrier?

Richard


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## foxfish (8 Nov 2014)

Yes, greenhouse shading is quite often used as is the stuffed tights method (or pantyhose if you search us sites)


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## aquascape1987 (8 Nov 2014)

Hi Michael, I have considered  moler  clay and cat litter but decided  to concentrate on a nutrient rich substrate to allow me a bit of slack  if I forget to dose/ am out of town for a week or two. Don't mind entrusting adding food for fish to someone  else, but I wouldn't fancy tasking my dad with adding ferts to the tank whilst on holiday. Pretty sure something would go wrong lol. Anyway, I'm gonna have another think on it before I buy anything


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