new to planted tank, need help selecting substrate

[willito]

Hello I am new here as I am to this ever exploding and vast community of planted aquarium enthusiasts. My first project entails setting up a new 25g planted. To start off, I need some help selecting a substrate type/brand. I've never kept live plants before but certainly have knowledge of fundamental biology and chemistry. With experience in reef keeping and breeding cichlids for many years, I thought I try plants.

Quick info on new setup.
25g tall
2x65w PC
canister filter (350g/hr)
co2 injection (don't know which method yet)
want to keep a large group of Cardinal tetras and others
want to keep an array of different plants (easy colorful ones to start)

I've read that selecting substrate should be for functionality and not purely on presentation. So tell what I need for a beginners tank. Please don't use acronyms as I have no idea what they are. Please be specific with names and types of media. Cheers.

[angel919]

ADA aqua soil, you might have a hard time finding it someone can post up a link to order it, or go the fired clay route, or better yet make your own mineralized soil! its a hot thread you'll run into it

[Torpedobarb]

Originally Posted by angel919

ADA aqua soil, you might have a hard time finding it someone can post up a link to order it, or go the fired clay route, or better yet make your own mineralized soil! its a hot thread you'll run into it

mineralized soil is the way to go IMO.. but that is just me.. check out the thread at the top of this forum.. it is a sticky.

you will still need something to cap it off though if you decide to go this route!

[lauraleellbp]

x2 on both of the suggestions so far, plus I also really like the Flourite black by Seachem.

[Hoppy]

If you enjoy making things, or just playing with soil and mud, use the mineralized topsoil for a bottom layer and add an inch of something that you like the looks of for the top layer. I tried Flourite black sand in a 10 gallon tank and really liked the appearance, plus the ease of planting in it. It would probably take two bags of it to top the mineralized topsoil. Another possibility, if you don't like playing with mud, is to contact torpedobarb (http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/su...rate-kits.html) to see if you can buy one of his mineralized topsoil kits. Other than that it seems to be a consensus that ADA Aquasoil Amazona I is the best commercial substrate.

[Homer_Simpson]

As far as ADA Aquasoil goes, this is generally true, but you should be aware of a couple of things if you go route. Although, I have not seen this in my experimental high light DIY c02 15 gallon high tank, many have experienced months of ammonia spikes using ADA Aquasoil. That could be an issue or not depending on what critters you keep and their sensitivity to elevated ammonia, not to mention your PH and tank temperature. Ammonia is alleged to be more toxic at higher PH and higher tank temperatures.

Also, I am not quite sure how well ADA AS low tech, no c02(excel tank) would work. If the substrate releases a lot of ammonia over time, fast growing plants in a high light, pressurized or DIY c02 tank may be able to absorb it before it becomes a problem. I am not sure how well or quickly tanks would absorb excess ammonia in a low tech tank. But again if your temperature and ph is on the lower side, it may be a non-issue. I wanted to experiment with a low tech ADA Aquasoil based tank to find the answer for myself, but space restrictions made it difficult for me to set up another tank.

[sewingalot]

I like flourite. It was the look of natural gravel that made me gravitate toward it, but even with rinsing it, you will have some cloudiness initially. With the exception of the ammonia spike in ADA Aquasoil, I have seen some very beautiful scapes on this board using it as the substrate.

[willito]

If using soil, does the current in the tank have to be at a minimal otherwise the water will be cloudy. Will the soil dirty and clog up the filters more rapidly? This mehtod sounds a little high maintainance or am I missing something here. Gravel seems to be the easier setup with less maintaninance on the filters. Sure there is that great benifit of the soil providing nutrients, but that can be achieved from supplements as well. With gravel, you don't even hesitate when it come to rearrange plants or reaquascaping. I am leaning more toward Florite right now.

[sewingalot]

This is a great link on using mineralized top soil: http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/f...on-talbot.html. I personally would have tried it out if I knew this to be an option. After all, it is a pretty cheap method, if you don't like the results, you haven't spent too much money.

I do like the flourite substrate a lot. The only thing I have found with flourite is if you are planting a lot, you can sometimes unsettle the dust and the water will get murky for a few hours. At least, that is what happens to me.

[Hoppy]

Originally Posted by willito

If using soil, does the current in the tank have to be at a minimal otherwise the water will be cloudy. Will the soil dirty and clog up the filters more rapidly? This mehtod sounds a little high maintainance or am I missing something here. Gravel seems to be the easier setup with less maintaninance on the filters. Sure there is that great benifit of the soil providing nutrients, but that can be achieved from supplements as well. With gravel, you don't even hesitate when it come to rearrange plants or reaquascaping. I am leaning more toward Florite right now.

I currently have a substrate similar to the mineralized topsoil - river silt under SMS. When I pull up a rooted plant I get a small cloud of brown dust, but within less than an hour it disappears, settling back under the SMS. Other than that I am never aware of the mud under the SMS.

[lauraleellbp]

IME if you rinse the Flourite REALLY well and then let it dry completely afterwards in the sun it's less cloudy. Mine doesn't cloud at all, actually- even during replanting.

[epicfish]

Originally Posted by Homer_Simpson

As far as ADA Aquasoil goes, this is generally true, but you should be aware of a couple of things if you go route. Although, I have not seen this in my experimental high light DIY c02 15 gallon high tank, many have experienced months of ammonia spikes using ADA Aquasoil. That could be an issue or not depending on what critters you keep and their sensitivity to elevated ammonia, not to mention your PH and tank temperature. Ammonia is alleged to be more toxic at higher PH and higher tank temperatures.

Also, I am not quite sure how well ADA AS low tech, no c02(excel tank) would work. If the substrate releases a lot of ammonia over time, fast growing plants in a high light, pressurized or DIY c02 tank may be able to absorb it before it becomes a problem. I am not sure how well or quickly tanks would absorb excess ammonia in a low tech tank. But again if your temperature and ph is on the lower side, it may be a non-issue. I wanted to experiment with a low tech ADA Aquasoil based tank to find the answer for myself, but space restrictions made it difficult for me to set up another tank.

Ammonia spikes can be reduced to about 8 days with constant water changes. But yes, it's something you have to watch out for.