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Substrate for 4ft tank

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steve_bham1

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I’m looking at a cost effective substrate for a 4ft tank. I prefer black substrate and leaning towards Limpopo sand.

I’ve got an auto doser for ferts and will use root tabs for heavy root feeding plants.

Would that set up work or would you recommend other alternatives ?

Thanks


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I would recommend a substrate with a high Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC) to absorb and release nutrients from the water column... assuming you will be dosing liquid ferts of course. Most fired clay products would fit the bill nicely here.
 
Matt @ ScapeEasy said:
I would recommend a substrate with a high Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC) to absorb and release nutrients from the water column... assuming you will be dosing liquid ferts of course. Most fired clay products would fit the bill nicely here.
Click to expand...

Something like eco complete or flourite?


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Thanks, just not that keen on the look of those to be fair.

Like the natural look of sand how about soul topped with sand? Is that good or does it get messy over time?


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steve_bham1 said:
Thanks, just not that keen on the look of those to be fair.

Like the natural look of sand how about soul topped with sand? Is that good or does it get messy over time?


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Click to expand...
Sorry not something I've done personally. I've done root tabs in sand though like you first suggested and that worked ok. Just don't put any root tabs near the glass as they will not look attractive (depending on brand they may dissolve and spread out a bit - I used pool filter sand with root tabs and they 'discoloured' it).
 
Rather than EcoComplete I’d follow Tropica’s method of using their Growth Substrate (or similar) under fine gravel

- George Farmer recently set up his EA 300 using this technique

Tropica also offers a Nutrition Capsule (which Jurijs mit JS opens, sprinkling a few over the tank base during set up)

In itself, EC is not a nutrient rich substrate - I used it in several tanks before Tropica Aquarium Soil became locally available, I preferred it’s earlier version (sans the sparkly bits)
It is smoother in texture than Seachem’s Flourite substrates, but corydoras do fine with either

Dennerle also offers a nice selection of natural gravels, with the same color available in a range of sizes allowing for a natural grading appearance
(Limpopo appears more dark grey than black under lighting - unless they’ve changed it)
 
Note EC also appears more a mixture of dark greys & some dark browns under aq lighting

Seachem Flourite black is likely the darkest natural substrate
 
alto said:
Rather than EcoComplete I’d follow Tropica’s method of using their Growth Substrate (or similar) under fine gravel

- George Farmer recently set up his EA 300 using this technique

Tropica also offers a Nutrition Capsule (which Jurijs mit JS opens, sprinkling a few over the tank base during set up)

In itself, EC is not a nutrient rich substrate - I used it in several tanks before Tropica Aquarium Soil became locally available, I preferred it’s earlier version (sans the sparkly bits)
It is smoother in texture than Seachem’s Flourite substrates, but corydoras do fine with either

Dennerle also offers a nice selection of natural gravels, with the same color available in a range of sizes allowing for a natural grading appearance
(Limpopo appears more dark grey than black under lighting - unless they’ve changed it)
Click to expand...

Thanks, just watched the video and looks good. I’ll have a look at tropica.


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+1 for Tropica soil, I've used it on all my tanks, big and small, its so easy to use and plants grow excellent in it. And its black.
Ive used both soil and powder and much prefer the powder as I find it holds the plants better initially but that might just be me.
Or you could use Tropica Substrate as a base and cover it with sand of your choice.
 
I think fluorite has a really low cec, according to some tests that were floating around the internet.

Does tropica have a good cec ratio?
 
leedsrhinojohn said:
+1 for Tropica soil, I've used it on all my tanks, big and small, its so easy to use and plants grow excellent in it. And its black.
Ive used both soil and powder and much prefer the powder as I find it holds the plants better initially but that might just be me.
Or you could use Tropica Substrate as a base and cover it with sand of your choice.
Click to expand...

Would a base layer of Tropica soil cap with Limpopo sand work well? Or over time would the soil mix with the sand?


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Tropica soil doesn't need a cap, its all you need, you only need a top layer with Tropica substrate
 
leedsrhinojohn said:
If you want to cap it then you are better off going for Tropica substrate rather than soil
Click to expand...

Ok thank you. Just doing more googling I’ll take your suggest and just go with the soil.

Thanks for your input.


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