Have Been given Free fluval Stratum Substrate

[LeviathanXIV]

So I recently brought my first tank and it's a Fluval Shaker 345 (105 x 55 x 60cm). And it was on offer and it came with 8kg of fluval Stratum.
Now I know I'll need to buy more substrate as 8kg is probably nowhere near enough but I was originally going to go for a mix of either ADA aqua soil/pool sand. Or Nutri Base and something else. As I've been Watching MD/FishShop Matt etc and other channels and wanted a healthy base to promote plant growth.

But since I already have 8kg of Stratum I'm really unsure on what I should do. Do I keep it and just buy more Stratum and use that. As that would probably be the cheapest/easiest option.

Or do I go with my original plan of getting new substrate and leave the Stratum as I've heard mixed things about it. Any help would be appreciated. I've come to the conclusion that I might be a bit over my head starting off with such a big tank

 

[Fishfur]

What is it you want to have in the tank? Specialty plant substrates can be very useful but they’re not essential if you want a planted tank & you would need more Stratum than what you have and it’s not exactly cheap.

There’s nothing wrong with using sand - here (Canada) it would possibly be play sand or sand used to mix concrete or even horticultural sand. which are quite cheap compared to anything made specifically for aquariums.

Pool filter sand is an inexpensive option here too - though it is white - depends how you feel about the colour.

You can also use soil and cap it with sand, which is also fairly inexpensive, but it has a couple of downsides - it can be pretty messy & it’ll likely leach ammonia for some period of time, as many planted tank substrates do.

It depends on whether you intend to grow difficult plants or stick to easier species, whether or not you plan to use CO2 injection or not and what sort of fish you want to keep too.

Not all fish are plant friendly.

 

[LeviathanXIV]

What is it you want to have in the tank? Specialty plant substrates can be very useful but they’re not essential if you want a planted tank & you would need more Stratum than what you have and it’s not exactly cheap.

There’s nothing wrong with using sand - here (Canada) it would possibly be play sand or sand used to mix concrete or even horticultural sand. which are quite cheap compared to anything made specifically for aquariums.

Pool filter sand is an inexpensive option here too - though it is white - depends how you feel about the colour.

You can also use soil and cap it with sand, which is also fairly inexpensive, but it has a couple of downsides - it can be pretty messy & it’ll likely leach ammonia for some period of time, as many planted tank substrates do.

It depends on whether you intend to grow difficult plants or stick to easier species, whether or not you plan to use CO2 injection or not and what sort of fish you want to keep too.

Not all fish are plant friendly.

For now I will most likely stick to easier to grow plants and don't plan on using Co2. But later once I get everything set up I may invest in a injection set.

For fish I have a few ideas it'll either be Angel fish or blue Acara. Maybe some Cory's and i think I do want either a smaller pleco like a blue phantom or a whiptail catfish.

My main this is just to get the tank set up, plants grown and it cycled and then once I've recovered from the cost of that to start getting fish. And ideally I don't want to break the bank with just buying the substrate and hardscape

Edit. Could I just use the Stratum as a base layer and cap it with some sand. And or should I put the Stratum in mesh bags.

 

[Fishfur]

For now I will most likely stick to easier to grow plants and don't plan on using Co2. But later once I get everything set up I may invest in a injection set.

For fish I have a few ideas it'll either be Angel fish or blue Acara. Maybe some Cory's and i think I do want either a smaller pleco like a blue phantom or a whiptail catfish.

My main this is just to get the tank set up, plants grown and it cycled and then once I've recovered from the cost of that to start getting fish. And ideally I don't want to break the bank with just buying the substrate and hardscape

Edit. Could I just use the Stratum as a base layer and cap it with some sand. And or should I put the Stratum in mesh bags.

You could put sand on top of the Stratum but thanks to the way particles of different sizes behave with each other, over some time the Stratum will work its way to the surface - it just won’t all stay put neatly. The largest particles always end up on top - more or less.

It won’t happen instantly but it will happen.

If it was in mesh bags it wouldn’t be able to do that but if roots grow into the stuff in a mesh bag, it’s going to be tough to pull them up for any reason - and it’s not uncommon to want to move a plant.

Just fyi, corydora catfish prefer a soft sand because it’s their nature to rummage in it much of their time, looking for food.

 

[LeviathanXIV]

You could put sand on top of the Stratum but thanks to the way particles of different sizes behave with each other, over some time the Stratum will work its way to the surface - it just won’t all stay put neatly. The largest particles always end up on top - more or less.

It won’t happen instantly but it will happen.

If it was in mesh bags it wouldn’t be able to do that but if roots grow into the stuff in a mesh bag, it’s going to be tough to pull them up for any reason - and it’s not uncommon to want to move a plant.

Just fyi, corydora catfish prefer a soft sand because it’s their nature to rummage in it much of their time, looking for food.

I think I will just cap it with some sand and have the Stratum in bags to help with the Stratum rising to the surface. Will one bag of 8kg be enough for a base layer.

And I appreciate the advice it's helped me out alot

 

[bazz]

I personally believe that six to twelve months down the line, when the substrate becomes mature (colonised by microbes) and active substrates have reached equilibrium with the water column, it doesn't really matter what it originally consisted of. That leaves, aesthetics, ease of planting, fish suitability, etc, and also how you want to spend your time in the interim period with regards to fiddling around with the tank.

Will one bag of 8kg be enough for a base layer.

To give you a rough idea, and according to the calculator I'm looking at right now, 8kg will cover a 100cm x 30cm (rear of the tank) footprint to a depth of 2cm