# Laterite and?



## ian01 (22 Jan 2008)

Hi currently in my planted tank i have 10 kilos of laterite and 10 kilos of 4mm gravel. Basically what I wanted to know is if i could replace the gravel with a more nutrient substrate? My LFS has recommended Seachem Flourite but after reading hundreds of bad reviews I donâ€™t know what to do. Cheers Angus


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## ceg4048 (22 Jan 2008)

Hi Angus,
                 Laterite's appeal is fading rapidly as it hasn't proven to deliver it's promises. Any of the substrates here will work, including Flourite: http://www.aquaessentials.co.uk/index.p ... 5970fff137

The importance of the substrate however is dependent on whether to plan to run a high light tank or a low light, non-CO2 injected tank. If you plan to go high tech/high light then you will be dosing the water column and the choice of substrate is not nearly as critical. The plants in this environment feed predominantly from the water column. You can "get away" with sand or regular gravel or whatever visually appeals to you, although the enriched substrates definitively do help. 

If you plan on lower lighting, lower dosing and slower growth then having an enriched substrate such as those on the link above is much more important as the plants will feed more heavily from the substrate and take supplementary feeding from the water column.

Cheers,


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## ian01 (23 Jan 2008)

Definitely looking to go high tech in the near future right now my lighting is at 1.9 wpg but I will soon be upgrading. I am thinking of starting again and going with the ADA substrate range.


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## ceg4048 (23 Jan 2008)

Hi,
     Yes the Aquasoils are very popular and have a lovely feel against the fingers/hands when you are planting or poking around. The AS is basically baked clay and the PS is essentially pumice I believe. If you use this then I feel you can completely discard the laterite.

Cheers,


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