The Planted Tank Forum banner

The Perfect Substrate

2K views 19 replies 6 participants last post by  dukydaf 
#1 · (Edited)
The Perfect Substrate
Has anyone actually tried to create the perfect sub.? Well most likely everyone has but my real statement / question is, has anyone tried to mix substrates? not just 2 or 3, I mean a bunch.
Like ADA aquasoil with caribsea eco complete, with pool filter sand, and other substrates like dirt? to create the perfect nutritious soil for plants?
 
#2 ·
The Perfect Substrate
Has anyone actually tried to create the perfect sub.? Well most likely everyone has but my real statement / question is, has anyone tried to mix substrates? not just 2 or 3, I mean a bunch.
Like ADA aquasoil with caribsea eco complete, with pool filter sand, and other substrates? to create the perfect nutritious soil for plants?
I've been trying dog poop lately.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bananableps
#15 ·
See what you do is;
Get some ADA aquasoil Amazonia Powedered
Sprinkle that hot baby on the bottom of your tank, Listen to it sizzle...
Get some Flourite, dump the whole bag in *keep plastic out, doesn't decompose*
Get eco complete, also dump that good ol' man in there!
Get some love in a spray can, dash of that.
Thrive and EI poured onto all of that
Cap with sand :)


This went from serious to nothing quick
 
#16 ·
My idea is just to use the ADA kind of soils if you can afford it, but to use a veneer of whatever you like on top. I have a bunch of pumice from the power sand on my tank substrate now because of all the uprooting I've done, but I plan on sucking all of that out at some point. I think if you layered the sands it could look cool optically on the edge of the tank, like some kind of fair ground funnel cake in a bottle dad caught from hitting the sledge on the bell.
 
#18 ·
The merits of the substrates you are proposing to combine are squandered unless they are used on their own.

For example, eco-complete is (supposedly) good at absorbing nutrients from the water column, for later use by plants [dubious]. This feature would be completely redundant if mixed with aquasoil, which does not need to sequester nutrients from the water column because it already contains nutrients. Unlike aquasoil, Ecocomplete has the advantage of not requiring replacement, but if you're mixing substrates you lose that, too.

PFS is inert and only provides visual benefits. If you mix it with another substrate (like ecocomplete), the visual effect will be that you are reusing old aquarium substrate that somehow got mixed up by accident. It'll look bad.

It really only makes sense to mix these prepackaged substrates in the interest of saving money (only using expensive stuff as a cap, for example). Otherwise, you're likely to negate all benefits.

The whole discussion is moot anyway, because we all know that dirt is the perfect substrate.
 
#19 ·
yea ive always leaned towards dirt for my sixty five sub. Cant afford all that ADA junk, to expensive... seriously a 9lts bag of small circles with chemicals in them for 40 bucks, like why???? costs 0.40 cents to make it
Anyway thanks banana for your input, I will do more research on the "meanings" of certain substrates (like you said eco for absorption) and see if I can still come up with a mix, dirt if a must in a sub. mix IMO, because it has all that nutrients wherever you place it in the layers.
 
#20 ·
You are assuming a substrate is not already a mix. This might be true in processed basalt sand, but ada amazonia is actually a baked mix, even river sand still has some detritus in it. Mixing different types of pebbles in different densities is not really the smartest thing as it will compact pretty fast, if increased organics are there you will get uncontrolled anaerobic conditions. More so, perfect substrate is hard to come by as perfect is a changing definition depending on the person and aquarium.

No need to complicate things :
want cheap : soil with a sand cap
want cheap and clean : sand with column dosing
want cheap and high CEC : lava rock , laterite etc.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top