fionainc Posted April 19, 2011 Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 Spent ages at the LFS pouring over a pile of rocks and choosing a substrate, only to be told by the assistant that both the rock and the gravel substrate I chose would make my water pH too alkaline. Ok - I understand that there might be people wanting rocks for terrariums.. but the substrate was supposed to be aquarium substrate! I ended up purchasing a bag of substrate that I'm regretting - it is just too black without the subtle variation to make it natural looking. I have noted that some gravels are much more expensive than others. Is there anything that I should be looking for (other than avoiding hokey coloured ones - I'm looking for dark brown/black. I'm going to be putting plenty of plants in the tank too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yanagi Posted April 19, 2011 Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 It is aquarium substrate. People use buffering substrates for cichlid, goldfish and sometimes marine tanks. Same with rocks. It's not suitable for most tropical tanks. River sand is good. Fine and natural coloured (darker than most but still no where near black). The more expensive ones you were looking at are probably for planted tanks, full of iron and other goodies for plants. Good plant substrates are Red Sea's flora base.. I mix this up with river sand to get a nice blend of nutrient rich substrate, the much cheaper gravel and a bit of sand for the plants. Otherwise there's Aqua soil, eco complete, etc. Can't vouch for any of those, I just like my flora base. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melbournebetta Posted April 19, 2011 Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 Hey Fizzy, I'll try and photograph the insane purchase I made a few months ago on a whim thinking I'd put gravel in all my tanks.... now I have a 3 kilo bag of nice brown fine gravel that I don't know what to do with. You'd be welcome to it, what size tank are you covering? Watch out for the coloured gravel - as you've mentioned they tend to set the ph soaring.. I really wanted black black gravel for a small nano tank, but with the ph mention - along with the issue of it being painted.. just seemed wrong. Let me know how much you'll need and we'll see if my gravel suits. -Ness Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenGirl13 Posted April 19, 2011 Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 I tend towards natural gravel or river sand (REALLY well washed as the silt can be a bugger!!) in my tanks although my favourite tank does have an unfortunate mix of natural and coloured (bits of leftovers that my son thoughtfully combined into one bag ) I was going to remove it from the tank at some point but the tank is now so settled and well planted (Hairgrass/Baby tears and some sort of thick grass thing as base planting) that I'm just putting up with it now...serves me right for being in such a hurry. I had an idea for a lay-out and just couldn't wait Possibly because it IS a mixture I haven't had a problem with Ph. As for main planted areas in my tanks I just use Aqua Soil, because it's black I do tend to plant in pockets or at the back of the tank so you don't see the stark contrast between it and the gravel or sand. NannaJo B) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts