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What substrate are kids using these days?

10K views 46 replies 30 participants last post by  Carpathian 
#1 ·
Hey guys,

Ive been out of the hobby for a couple years, looking to get back into it with a 75 gallon hightech tank.

I was just wondering what a good solution for substrate is these days. Not looking to go dirted. I have noticed that since my departure, Tropica products are now available in the states, I am very excited about this! I always wanted to get my hands on their products, but was never able to.

In all of tropica's " inspiration " layout videos, they simply use their " Plant Growth Substrate " capped with inert aquarium gravel and they seem to have nothing but incredible results with this method.

Like I mentioned this is going to be a hightech 75 gallon, so which ever route I go with I would like to keep cost in mind, 70+lbs of some ridiculously expensive ADA substrate is not a viable solution for me.

The plant that is probably going to have the biggest impact on the substrate I decide to go with is probably DHG Belem, which will be the main carpeting plant.

Looking forward to any input!

Thanks!
 
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#7 ·
For the purposes of this thread, black diamond blasting sand=sand/inert

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#11 ·
There is the Cal Aqua soil that I would have liked to try, but could never find it anywhere. It looks heavier and cleaner. There is also a new substrate from Seachem but my LFS only sold it in tiny small bags. I ended up just buying 5 x 9 liter bags of Amazonia and shipping cross country...


If companies want to sell new soils, they sure make them hard to access.... If you can find those, give them a try. They look better, to me.

PS: There is a LOT more sand/gravel particles in Amazonia then there used to be, and maybe it's just be but it seems like it falls apart easier than it did years ago.....
 
#12 ·
Most kids are still using painted gravel these days. Not much has changed on that side of the hobby in the past 10 years however I think planted tank enthusiasts(which are usually adults) prefer to use an aquasoil or gravel capped dirt.

all smartassery aside,

I think even the tropica plant growth substrate might still be quite an expensive option. It seems to be more expensive than tropicas aquasoil, at least in the 3kg bag size. Then again, you won't need as much as you would going straight aquasoil. Maybe laterite or another iron rich clay based product? Flourite and some osmocote plus?
 
#18 ·
You could do the math, but I would get the substrate you want the most. You really don't change substrate that much and any of them will probably be in your tank for years so the cost difference really isn't that much over that stretch of time. It should be noted that whether you use aquasoil or inert sand you will eventually be dosing the water column.
 
#27 ·
I bought a bucket of it when it first came out. I did some testing and it looked and acted like Soilmaster Select. Biggest difference was that Soilmaster Select was around $15/50lb bag at the time.

I have two tanks, a 125g with coarse quartz sand and a 120 with Turface Pro League. With HO T5 lights and injected CO2 I could grow anything that could handle my 15+ dH water hardness.

In a 20g tank I setup with Aquasoil its initial buffering capacity allowed me to grow a lot of softwater plants. But the softening only lasted a few months at which point the softwater-loving plants stunted/melted.
 
#21 ·
Hey! I think I recognize your avatar! Now back to the topic...

Oh hell no! Once you start pulling and replanting those plants, those layers you have created will all get messed up and eventually mix together. Less is more, the most I would do is ADA top and Eco complete bottom, but then if you go that far... you probably won't care for the extra $20bucks to go all out hah....
 
#23 ·
Hey! I think I recognize your avatar! Now back to the topic...

Oh hell no! Once you start pulling and replanting those plants, those layers you have created will all get messed up and eventually mix together. Less is more, the most I would do is ADA top and Eco complete bottom, but then if you go that far... you probably won't care for the extra $20bucks to go all out hah....
 
#28 ·
Alright guys, so I got a great deal on 2 large bags of ADA Amazonia. That is not nearly enough to cover the whole thing, but it should make for a nice cap.

Now, what should I use as the bottom? I need about 40 more pounds of something to put under the Amazonia...

I was thinking about using Caribsea Floramax, it seems pretty good and is cheap... Maybe that laced with some osmocoat plus root tabs, then capped with the amazonia?

Thoughts?
 
#31 ·
For what it's worth, I've been pretty happy with a mix of Eco-Complete/Aqua Soil in my 120 for going on 6 years.

The nice part is that once the aquasoil starts to break down and turn to mud, it's easy enough to rinse it out of the eco-complete so you can start the whole process over with only having to by AS again. In 6 years I've done that once, just for context.

And as others have said, even if you layer it, eventually it'll all mix, but it striates. Courser stuff on top, finer stuff on bottom. This is catalyzed by MTS if you have them. AS and EC mix well and look nice, but after many years of MTS turning the soil, the AS breaks down and ends up on bottom, and the Eco rises to the top.
 
#34 ·
I've had my 135 set up now for 2 months.
Pressurized CO2, liquid fertilizers (seachem flourish line) and
2 dual 36" t5 HO 10 hrs on/14 hrs off.

100% Eco-Complete substrate. It's been a pain to get plant to 'hold' in the substrate prior to establishing root systems, but patience pays off.

I just added the S. Repens and L. Cardinals last week. Only had a few uproot and have replanted since.

Micro swords have proven difficult in the least, but DHG seems to do well with it.
 

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#37 ·
For what it is worth, I pick an inert substrate I like and use it to build a wall around the edge of the aquarium bottom, then add black gold compost 1 inch deep in the middle and cover that with my inert substrate. So far I've done 4 tanks 10g and under like this and the results were great! No dosing needed, just balanced light and diy CO2. Plant Terrestrial plant Organism Petal Grass
Plant Flower Petal Terrestrial plant Grass
These are some picks of my first tank in the hobby. I'll take some of the rescape I did on this 10 gal tank (dirt also). It's still filling in so I have taken pics yet.

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#38 ·
I really wanted to use the ADA amazonia soil but given that my 20 long is my first planted tank, I didn't want to have an expensive set up incase it turns out I'm horrible at the whole thing lol. I decided to go with black flourite and going to add root tabs. I'll get back to you as to how well it works :grin2
 
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