I Want To Change My Substrate.

[Mo_loves_fish]

Okay so i have my 55g tank and it has black gravel at the bottom. and i Have recently Decided to try and make a planted tank.

Heres a pic of my tank:

Would it be possible to change he substrate?

What type of substrate should i use?(im not too worried about price.)Also i live in the US so if you know of an online store i could buy it from.

How would i go about doing this?


////Sorry for the bad pic. Its the middle of the day and there is a ton of glare////

 

[Mo_loves_fish]

Anyone?

 

[SJ2K]

Fill 1 bucket with tank water and stick your fish in there (if you have an air stone, put that with them too). Take your filter media out and either leave it in a container of tank water or float it in the tank.

Then start emptying your water, taking out all decor as you go (good chance to give it all a good scrub). Once most of the water is gone then just take out the gravel (a dust pan can be quite good), remove as much left over water as poss and put in your new clean substrate.

Fill up half way with dechlorinated water, add decor and fish. Top up with more clean water and any left in buckets. Put your media back in and away you go!

Make sure you get the water up to temp before putting it into your tank

 

[ShoC]

Hi Mo_loves_fish

If your planning a Planted tank with Dwarf hair grass covering the bottom (I'm going to assume thats what you want)

your going to need a decent substrate covered by some sand or gravel (preferably fine)
something like these as your substrate for plants to have nutrients I'm using Tetra complete myself but many others are good unsure what others will recommend.

A decent lighting unit would be wanted,
your fish tank size depends on the lighting needed
you would need to work out your WPG (watts per gallon) lighting output added up then divinded by the total water volume, e.g my tanks is 2x 25w lights = 50w my tanks 22gal so 50 divided by 22gal = 2.2 wpg roughly (hope you get that )

and a DIY or Pressurised Co2 system (many good tutorials on this site)


you may not need the co2 system if you dose with nutrients etc... but even then maybe you wont just depends on how heavy you want the planting to be, but if your hearts set on having dense carpet you need for sure a decent substrate and lighting.. (I believe)

i'll probably be corrected soon
and sorry if you know all this just helping out (if thats what you call it )

 

[Mo_loves_fish]

I know a little, im kinda learning as i go with this planted stuff but all adive is welcome so thankyou.

 

[Underwurlde]

I would NOT recommend using ADA Aquasoil in this instance, because for about 3 - 4 weeks after laying down & filling with water you see one hell of an ammonia spike! A very big problem here because during this period of time the fish will have to be re-homed (not in a bucket really).

See if you can source something called EcoComplete - best stuff you can get your mitts on! Replacing your exisitng substrate with this using aforementioned bucket trick will suit... it is also a dark substrate so will be kind of like what you have now, albeit now plant friendly. You just bung it in, no cleaning and no capping with sand....

Simple as!

Andy

 

[Mo_loves_fish]

How many bags of that do yo think i would need. for my 55g?

the bags are 20lbs so you think 2 would work?

 

[Underwurlde]

It recommends a depth of 3 inches. Work it back from area of tank bottom. ROUGHLY 2lb / gallon!

so, about 25 lbs of the stuff!

But, it lasts forever and will never need replacing:

One of the top planted aquarium substrates today, Eco-Complete is a balanced, easy to use substrate. It comes populated with beneficial bacteria, so if you are starting a new tank, you can jump-start the cycling process.

It doesn't require rinsing, which is a big pain to have to do, and an even bigger pain later if you don't do this for alternative substrates! It comes packed with essential nutrients and minerals required for live plants (even 4,486.78ppm of titanium) and shouldn't impact your water parameters (Unless you bought a really old bag, as they did have a few quality problems about a year ago. These can be identified by milky white liquid in the bag, but they will replace the bag for free).

It looks great and is (again think) made from a volcanic rock & peat mixture. The grain sizes are within range for optimal root growth; it's bi-modal, in that it contains different grades of thickness, from sand increasing in size gradually to gravel-size chunks and it requires no pre-washing. Note that the gravel used is also rounded and therefore poses no threat to bottom feeding fish that may hurt themselves on sharp edged substrate.

The appearance is deep jet-black sandy gravel. I use Eco-Complete almost exclusively, and for the price, you can't buy a better substrate in my opinion!

Other features include: nitrate and carbonate free and therefore will not increase pH or carbonate hardness; there are no artificial dyes, paints or chemical coatings; the natural black substrate encourages the most vibrant coloration in fishes and reduces fish stress; spherical grains for optimum diffusion performance; supplies calcium without raising the pH & lead free.

Will also hold nutrients from fish poop or fertilizers that you add to the tank.

Place a thin layer of peat moss at the bottom of the tank first. Doesn’t break down and will hence last forever. Suggested depth is 3" or 2 lbs / Gallon. So it's basically one bag for every 10 Gallons. OR: 1.5 bags for every 1 square foot of coverage.

‘Eco-Complete is simple, pour in, plant and away you go: no cleaning gravel etc. My only 'issue' with Eco-Complete is that it is very, very lightweight: it is easily disturbed though it doesn't cloud the water when disturbed so this is not too bad’.

you may not need the co2 system if you dose with nutrients etc

If you use CO2, you WILL need to dose nutrients: Light drives CO2 uptake drives nutrient (fertilizer) uptake.

You don't need 2.2WPG, BUT if you do, you will need CO2 injection and you will need to be constatntly dosing ferts.

Lower the lights = low / no CO2 = less dosing of ferts. Indeed in low light, no CO2 tanks, the necessary ferts can be derived from fish poo!

 

[Mo_loves_fish]

What are good ferts. I dont really want to do the EI thing.

 

[Underwurlde]

If you don't want to do the EI thing, what do you want to do?

Or, how do you envisiage keeping a planted tank?

Andy

 

[Mo_loves_fish]

well i plan on getting this light

https/www.aquatraders.com/index.asp?PageA...&ProdID=293

and changeing to a good substrate -- EcoComplete

maybe getting another Nutrafin CO2 system.

Anything else you suggest.

I have flourish right now that i use. Not sure how good it is.

i dont know what brands of ferts are good and stuff.

 

[garuf]

If you have a friend who can take in your fish for the time being (1-2 months) I would DEFINITELY get ADA aquasoil amazonia 1 or 2 depending on your water type, you really cannot beat the stuff.

 

[Mo_loves_fish]

i wa thinking about just moving the fish into like a big container and put my filters in there too. and redoing the tank.

 

[garuf]

Those water butts you get for horse's and things that are about 20gallons would be perfect for that, It's well worth it in the long run, but, admittedly It's better for the change to be as fast as possible for the fishes sake, but the fact that Ada aquasoil is so good for planted tanks more than makes up for it.

 

[frozenbarb]

Wow 250w over a 55g with a yeast sugar base c02 system, With no EI
You would be asking for Algae. .Unless you does Seachem Excel Alot


Nutrafin co2 system is crap.. just make your own with DIY co2. less cheap..
If you dont want to do EI go Low tech.. 1wpg-1.5wpg Since you have low co2.

Java fern, Crypts,Moss,Anubias