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Need help with buying substrate

3

3kris3

Seedling
Joined
16 Jan 2015
Messages
15
hello everyone, i just found this site and it seems good. need some help with substrate.

i have a jewul vision 260 measuring 122 x 46 x 64.

i was thinking of the following:

4cm sloping down to 2cm of JBL AquaBasis topped with 4cm sloping to 2cm on top of Caribsea Eco-Complete, then topped with my chice of decorative gravel and sand to complete the look.

but i have no idea if this is overkill or exactly how much to buy of it!

Thanks
 
i have just seen a post about b&q aquatic compost, would that be a good base with a layer of JBL AquaBasis or Caribsea Eco-Complete on top?
 
What exactly are you trying to achieve?
Since the vision 260 has t5 lighting you're probably be wanting to go high tech either using liquid carbon or gas co2 injected. You'll then need some ferts (I recommend you read up on the EI tutorial). If you're water column plant feeding you really don't need to buy expensive substrate, sand you pick up at a garden center will do. If you want to be a bit more forgiving with substrate and use it as a buffer then you might want to look at either tesco cat litter or dirt capped with sand. I love dirt both my tanks have it, try and get one without any lime in it.
 
for the time being i am gona be running a low-medium tech tank, ill be running liquid CO2 eventually getting a full kit, and the sand will be aquarium sand becuase i want the ice white sand, looks awesome. and ive got glossy black gravel to make a nice sloping plant feature out of.

Also i didnt know i was running T5 lights! thought they were T8, im new to the big tank scene, only had little tanks, going from a 70L to this

My ultimate achievement is really nice plant growth but hide all the substrate for looks, just dont fancy paying stupid money for substrate if i can help it, some substrates will set me back nearly £100 or so!
 
I would buy a 25L bag of sand or gravel from a garden center (wash it out under a tap for a bit), then spend the money you were going to spend on substrate on a big bottle of TNC liquid carbon (or other make), 1/2 kg of KNO3 and MgSO4, 1/4kg on trace and mono phosphate. Probably about £30 total which will last you well over a year.

a good guide to excel based tank can be found here. Substitute the the excel for liquid carbon.

I like getting my stuff from fluidsensor as I find what I need all in one place and do dosing bottles.. Some of the forum sponsors off discounts on ferts and offer starter kits with all the ferts and bottles but you'll have to get the liquid co2 separate.

Again if you want a bit of a substrate buffer then dirt if cheap and you cap if with sand. If you want to spend the money on the ice sand then do that.
 
will plants root easy enough in the sand? im unsure what plants im having in, itll probably be a large variety and currently my T5 is running 2 x 38w tubes, will they be sufficient?
 
also the way i want my tank is high(ish) in the back right, sloping to front left, so its difficult working out how much i need, i think its gona be trial and error
 
Hi, when it comes to substrate my advice would be if you know what you want do not compromise. I've lost count how many times thinking I'm clever couldn't afford what I wanted so went for sand. Ended up with problems it doesn't stay looking nice also a pig to hoover but cheap.. Cat litter is good value but not the nicest colour. Garden centre gravel is good very cheap stays looking the same and I've had my plants growing well in cheap pea type gravel. Akadama I've used but I wanted ada amazonia I mixed the two as I was trying to save money but didn't achieve the look I wanted so this time I saved and got exactly what I wanted,cost me a ridiculous £50 TO do this 45cmx45cmx30 but I'm pleased with it. After all I have to look at the tank every evening in the lounge so what's the point of putting in something I'm going to want to rip out soon as I've put it in. what works for someone may not work for you. I would say have a good look at people's journals there are some amazing tanks using just dirt. Find what one has the properties you need and that you also find aesthetically pleasing. Save your money and go for it. I chose ada amazonia because i do intend keeping crs in the tank again at some point. @EnderUK I wasn't poo pooing your ideas or advice they a great if your on a tight budget, you don't need expensive substrate at all it just seems the nicest looking stuff is pricey😀
 
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Hello thanks for the reply, I'm not on a tight budget, just refuse to pay over the odds for substrate when there is better value. I'm happy using root tabs etc. Definitely don't want to use play sand or cat litter, I just want a nice nutrient rich base that my plants will anchor to, and is good at holding nutrients in place. I am putting decorative stuff on top to achieve the look I want. So the underneath is more practical than pleasing.
 
In that case something like aqua grow or similar, can't remember who but someone on here ( who knows a lot more than I do about plants) is using it so it must be good. I've been tight as in refusing to pay over the odds for substrate but I make my excuses for the large hole this hobby can put in my pocket with liking glassware etc.😀 as I don't smoke I don't drink I don't by a football strip every season or go to matches so treat yourself😀 I'm quite boring realy just glad I've got a tank to talk about.
 
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i just dont see why i should pay alot more for substrate that only has more nutrients, im going to have the following i think:

layer of sand
layer of substrate (still debating which)
then my decorative gravel
 
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