[redley]

New to planted tanks and am hoping for some assistance.

My mother purchased a bunch of Flourabase and is offering it to me.
I was hoping to combine Turface and Flourabase.
I have read that Flourabase from RedSea turns to mush after a year, with a 50/50 mix of Turface would this be acceptable, or should I go 100% Turface, or Turface with some pool sand mixed in to help the smaller rooted plants take root?

Also, what additional nutrients will I need to 'dose' the planted tank with. I have searched the forums and am dizzy with all of the information. Anyone have a link to adding nutrients with Turface?

75 gal tank with T5 lighting.
Attempting to get CO2 to work....

 

[bradac56]

They look different enough that I wouldn't mix the two but you could use ether florabase or Turface alone I do without any problems no need to mix sand into ether of them. The basics for water column fertilizer on a tank that big is going to be dry ferts:

KN03
KH2P04
K2SO4
Trace (CSM+B or pfertz.com's "M" or Seachem Flourish)

Optional but good stuff:
GH booster (only used after a large WC)
Iron Chelate 10% (if you need extra iron for finicky plants)

You can get them extreamly cheap at ether
[ http://www.greenleafaquariums.com/aquarium-fertilizer.html ]
[ http://www.aquariumfertilizer.com/index.asp?Option1=cats&Edit=2&EditU=1&Regit=2 ]

- Brad

 

[Anupam]

I have used Turface mixed with topsoil and topped it off with 1/2 inch to 1 inch of Flora Base and it worked great.

For those using just Turface, I think the material is itself inert but good at trapping nutrients from the water column. I'd like to hear people's experiences with just turface and different heavy root feeding plants.

-a

 

[bradac56]

Most of my low-tech tanks just have SMS or Turface in them and I've never had any problems with it. SMS/Turface has the second highest CEC rating after peat moss that I know of so the point of it is to dose with water column ferts as soon as you start the tank cycling.

- Brad

 

[PHalas]

I'd like to hear people's experiences with just turface and different heavy root feeding plants.

Have had this in low & High tech tanks, put a thin layer of peat moss then Turface on top, add water, ferts & plants and off you go. Have one tank running this way for 6yrs same substrate & have successfully grown many different types of plants in it .
Not tried H C am curious to hear from anyone who has ??

 

[redley]

thanks so much for the advice. I am going to go with Turface alone and beginning my homework on water column ferts from one of the stickys. Any advice on what to top the Turface with, if anything, so that the plants don't uproot?

 

[bradac56]

I wouldn't cap it, actually it's what I use as a cap most of the time. I'd just go with it straight and teach yourself how to plant and vacuum light substrates. It's not very hard with a bit of practice. I've found most of the people that can't be bothered with it or dead set against it didn't give it a try in the first place.

A big set of forceps (giant tweezers) can help get you started my 8", 10", and 12" set was about $10 on ebay or greanleaf has a really good high end set for allot more.

- Brad

 

[redley]

I work at a hospital and have access to new forceps that are usually thrown away. At least I can help out the land fill there!

Thanks for the help!
I will be picking up the Turface tomorrow and redoing my entire tank on Wed.
If I can figure it out, I'll start a thread with my progress

I'm working all night and once it slows down, will try and wrap my head around water column ferts.

 

[redley]

Brad - One more question, can you grow a carpet easily with the Turface?

I have a 75gal tall 36Tx18Wx24D
CoralLife Lunar Aqualight
96W 10,000 day light, 96 W Actinic 3, 3/4 wat lunar moon glow LED lamp

Attempting to fix my CO2, the relief valve continues to leak. Searching for someone in Colorado to assist me instead of sending it back to aquariumplants.com. The 3 LFS that I have been to "don't really do CO2". Once I figure out this tank, I will be going to one of my local nursing homes and the classroom and giving their plastic planted tank much more depth with live plants.

 

[bradac56]

The problem with carpet plants won't be with the substrate but with the light/fert/co2 mix. Your lighting looks like a good mid-range but you will defently want to get your c02 and ferts going as soon as possible.

- Brad