Substrates

[Kris85]

Hi all, im new to this site and i must say what a great site it is!! . I am going to be setting up a rio 300 planted tank in the next few weeks but am having trouble deciding on a substrate. Now, i had a dennerle system in my last set-up ie cable heater, temp controller, ph controller co2 injection etc, and have kept all the gear. The tank ran with reasonable success until i moved recently hence i had to dismantle it. Now i used dennerle deponit in the last tank but i found it a bit 'messy' for want of a better word i found that after a while the sand and peat etc at the bottom, migrated into the quartz gravel layer. My question is should i stick with the cable heater (ive read their worth is dubious) and dennerle deponit? or try something like ADA aquasoil i like the look of the ADA stuff especially the amazonia but do you use this on ts own or with something else? should i use my cable with it? also i wanta long erm low maintenance substrate and ive heard you need to replace aquasoil every 12 months? This is not feasable for me if true.

Sorry for the long post

Regards
Chris.

 

[Themuleous]

Hi and welcome to the forum

To be honest, if you can afford the ADA soil then get that, its generally regarded at the best there is.

Don't use the heater cable, again its generally seen as having little effect.

Using the EI method with a rich water column of ferts is supposed to prolong the life of a substrate as the plants take less from it and more from the water, and although I've not used it personally I would think that you could use it for longer, you might just not get as vigorous growth (although I would think it would still give good growth, if you see what I mean) People change it every 12 months so keep the scape looking top notch but I wouldn't think its vital. These people also change the scape every 6 months so they can change the substrate during that, if you want a scape longer term then changing the substrate becomes more difficult.

Sam

 

[Kris85]

Hi Sam, thanks for the welcome

Yeah i am more into the heavily planted natural 'jungle' look tank, so im not going to be changeing scapes every few months. I want a substrate which will give good growth for a long period of time the dennerle deponit had a life of around 5 years i think thats the sort of thing im after. With regards to the ADA stuff would i just use the amazonia aquasoil or this powesand stuff as well? As said i just want a good easy to set up long term substrate that will give me good long term growth.

Regards.
Chris

 

[Themuleous]

Well I think the ADA stuff would be fine, yes we're told to change it but for what you say you need it for I think it would be fine. As to the powersand etc I've not got a clue as I've not actually use the system before. Others will be able to advise more on that

Sam

 

[Kris85]

Yeah like i say i am after lush vigorous growth but i will be leaving the aquascape for the life of the tank. I like the look of ADA stuff but ive head it dissolves slowly and burns out and needs replacing im apprehensive about getting it because of this,it sems geared towards people who change their tanks every 6 months lol, i dont want to be replacing it every 12 months maybe i should just go for the deponit mix again? i really don't know can someone help me out?

Regards.

Chris.

 

[Graeme Edwards]

The only reason i can see why people change/refresh the ADA aqua soil is that when fiddled with or constantly agited the soil slowly brakes up into a fine powder and ruins the whole structure on which it is designed to be most efective.
The ADA aqua soil can last as long as you want it to, you can add tablet fertilizers or ADA's line of substrate aditives to extend it life.
The general way it goes with aqua soil is you add power sand at the first stage then backtar100 for bacterial growth, clear super, termilineBC ect ect. I use power sand special and this contains all of the above.

ADA is considerd the best available, if you can afford it get ADA, go to www.aquaesstials.co.uk, Richard has an ADA catologe available that give lots of info about the whole ADA range, it cost around £3 ish and he sells all the ADA brands.

Forgot to say WELCOMBE Kris85

 

[Kris85]

Ok thanks for the info guys i really appreciate it I ordered an ADA catalogue off of aquaessentials. Ive been doing a bit of research on the Aquasoil on the US forums, and apparently the whole 'having to change the substrate every year' is a myth, and aano himself has had tanks running 3+ years on aquasoil so im not to sure what to believe!! Im going to wait for the catalogue to come and have a good read of that and see what i think. I must admit it does look nice and simple which is good!!

Regards,

Chris.