Best Value Substrate

[Barbara Turner]

I've used various fine gravel / sand in the past with moderate sucess and looking at trying something hopefully better.
Aquascaping my first tank I leant not to mix different soils.. I move plants arround to much and the combination of aquatic soil and sand made a horrible mess..

My tank is 120 x 50 x 50cm so I need roughly 50L

Planning on running C02, moderately high light and daily EI

Tropica Aquarium Soil - 6 x 9L @ £29.44 (5% off), = £176
Colombo Mano Base BLACK 10L Plant Substrate - 5 x 10L bags @ £20.99 = £105
Ibuki sieved SEMI-FIRED Akadama 2.5-3mm - 3 x 17 litres@ £29.00 = £87
Moler Clay - Fine Grade 1-3mm mesh graded -RS1041- 4 x 14L@ £21.95 = £87
ADA Aqua Soil - Amazonia- 17 x 3L @£21.99 - £374 (out of budget)
Silica Sand - COARSE Grain 1mm-2mm (Already own)

What are peoples thoughts?

Ps If you have any other ideas please shout and I'll add to the poll.

My preverence at the minute is to try the moler clay and root tabs, is tropica worth the extra money?

Moler Clay - Fine Grain - Bonsai Aquaculture Succulent Growing Media

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[jamiep]

nb, tropica soil from proshrimp is 5% off, £29.44, with code 'five'.
The cheapest is the sand you already have, £0.
You are not factoring in root tabs, etc to the cost of inert substrates
Crushed lava rock, alfagrog or leca in mesh bags on the tank bottom under soil is cheaper than the same volume of soil alone, and would add the benefit of increasing water flow versus just 6*9L of soil
The question of wrong, however, in my view. Consider what it is that you want to achieve and just buy the most appropriate substrate to do so.

 

[Barbara Turner]

When I started with aquatic soil and sand, I had a really good carpet of Monte carlo, pennywort and Red Tiger Lotus all did really well.
Moving house and switching to pure sand did reduce the maintinance but none of these plants did very well.

But could also be a million other things.... like water hardness affecting co2 absorbtion.

You are not factoring in root tabs, etc to the cost of inert substrates

I'd never considered them a massive expense.. I'm sure I bought about 200 for £10. I'd also probably still use them with whatever I go for.

alfagrog or leca in mesh bags

Alfagrog is probably a good shout, as will probably also improve water circulation through the substrate. Might alao help stop the substrate making it's way from the back of the tank to the front..
Slightly scared of the leca floating away when pulling out big crypts. Trying to bury it again would almost be a complete rescape.

It is going to make planting large plants more of a pain, I'm never a massive fan of trimming the roots, being able to push them in to 10cm of sand was so easy.

 

[MoFish]

Could also use a bottom layer substrate and top off with sand or aquasoil

 

[Barbara Turner]

Could also use a bottom layer substrate and top off with sand or aquasoil

I move stuff around to often, I also put in fast growing plants at the start that I know that once everything else is established I will pull out to stop it taking over the tank.
If I buy something new I want it in the front, so end up moving other plants arround.

I also have a army of corydoras, that help dig stuff up.

After all this for 6 months , it looks like i put all the soil and the sand in a carrier bag and gave it a good shake.
I might have some small patches of sand at the front, but I'll expect to vac these out and replace every couple of months..

 

[bazz]

Nice looking tank!

 

[jamiep]

I've Cory and in my old scape some of the big girls shifted soil everywhere with their snuffling despite rock barriers.

New scape has wabi cusa planted along the rocks and is doing a great job at eliminating aqua soil going onto the sand

 

[Little]

You could try the buy / sell thread to ask for leftover substrate. Just see what pops up for what price. A retaining wall can separate your soil and sand area to mitigate mixing if it’s only aqua soil.

 

[The Miniaturist]

That's a great looking tank!
I don't actually find the mixed aqua soil & sand too unpleasant but it may appear different in reality.
Instead of rescaping (unless you want to) could you not add a darker sand for the corys to mix up so there is less contrast between that & the aqua soil?

 

[mort]

If pond soil worked before then I'd go for that again and to prevent mixing you can either bag it, or use an old fashioned gravel tidy (basically a layer on top of the soil where the plants roots can penetrate but it holds the soil underneath). A good easily available solution for this is insect mesh screening or greenhouse shading. You can then just cap with a decorative layer of choice.