Chuckie Posted October 7, 2006 Report Share Posted October 7, 2006 The following posts were split from the "show us your tanks" thread. what is your substrate Celeste? Small gravel and coarse river sand works well for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celeste84 Posted October 7, 2006 Report Share Posted October 7, 2006 pritch, thanks, but i already fertilise my plants regularly it just makes the plants the snails like to eat grow more and hence produce more rotting matter when the snails eat them lilli, they're just white little rocks natural ones, but about the size of a five cent piece on average? i had the roots of one of my plants rot in it after a few weeks i clean it once a month so i dunno what's wrong with it *shrugs* edit: plus i was thinking a more natural gravel might be better??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted October 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2006 I agree with you Celeste. Those rocks are a recipe for disaster. All sorts of organic junk gets trapped down there plus it is an anaerobic environment. Not good. Plants need to be "solidly rooted" (no smutty jokes thanks guys!) or their roots will always rot. That is what coarse river sand is better than most tank gravels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pritch33 Posted October 7, 2006 Report Share Posted October 7, 2006 what was the plant that had the roots rot ? also a cause of plants rotting is if they are buried to deep it can cause the crown of the plant to rot Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celeste84 Posted October 8, 2006 Report Share Posted October 8, 2006 the plants were the 5 rush, and two plants (each a different species) of anubis. i saved the larger anubis and planted it on top of a cave, all my plants are now on top of things, even the tiki hut has an anubis as a hat these days they were only just planted deep enough to hold them in place (1-2 cm) as i figured they'd need room for their roots to grow down and get established lilli, thanks, i'll make sure to toss that gravel when we move and put river sand into all my tanks once they're set up again thanks for all the help guys!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess Posted October 8, 2006 Report Share Posted October 8, 2006 With the anubias the rhizome should be left uncovered to prevent it from rotting in the substrate. I can't really tell from the photos but the plants look fairly covered with gravel. Just a thought :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterJ Posted October 8, 2006 Report Share Posted October 8, 2006 plus it is an anaerobic environment did you mean aerobic? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pritch33 Posted October 8, 2006 Report Share Posted October 8, 2006 ok Celeste84 as far as the rush goes you havnt done anthing wrong other than buy it (sorry) rush is not an aquatic plant and will not survive submerged and it will rot and die it is a bog water plant with the anubis personally never plant them always attach to a rock or piece of wood if it sends roots down into the gravel thats ok Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celeste84 Posted October 8, 2006 Report Share Posted October 8, 2006 i knew the rush would rot eventually but the roots rotted out first and yeah with the anubis i left the long thick part at the bottom uncovered and just buried the roots?? is that the right thing to do?? in any case they're all now ruber banded to various caves and such ; Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess Posted October 8, 2006 Report Share Posted October 8, 2006 I don't plant mine. Attached to roacks that sit on gravel or to driftwood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted October 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2006 did you mean aerobic? no - I meant "no oxygen". Did I do bad? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celeste84 Posted October 8, 2006 Report Share Posted October 8, 2006 i thought aerobic meant "oxygenated" basically and anaerobic was "lack of oxygen"??? yano, kinda like aerobics gets the blood pumping and the oxygen flowing, an aerobic environment has oxygen??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterJ Posted October 9, 2006 Report Share Posted October 9, 2006 no - I meant "no oxygen". Did I do bad? I thought a coarser gravel, with bigger interstitial spaces and more open exchange would tend to be more aerobic than sand . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess Posted October 9, 2006 Report Share Posted October 9, 2006 I agree. That's what I have been lead to believe! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted October 9, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 9, 2006 I thought nasty gasses of decomposing crud were trapped in the gaps down there, hence anaerobic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterJ Posted October 9, 2006 Report Share Posted October 9, 2006 Soz Lisa - you're outvoted . Seriously, bigger spaces do allow more exchange (I used to teach uni students about soil and sediment profiles and my postgrad included some of that type stuff). I'm not sure how much crud we're talking about though - if it's enough to count as a substrate layer by itself then it could get anoxic all on it's own (even without the gravel) since it's probably comprised of fines. The only natural setting where I've encountered significant concentrations of H2S was in mangrove muds which can be anoxic within the first few mm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted October 9, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 9, 2006 maybe it is just my mental shorthand for decaying organic garbage! Not something I covered at university, lol. Anyway - whether it's anaerobic or otherwise, my point was that big gravel gaps are bad and can cause problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
splendidbetta Posted October 9, 2006 Report Share Posted October 9, 2006 I guess big gaps in gravel can become anoxic if a dead spot is created and anaerobic bacteria multiply there in that pocket, but otherwise I don't understand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess Posted October 9, 2006 Report Share Posted October 9, 2006 Big gravel is not good I agree. Food gets trapped, goes yucko.. roots decay.. meh. Been there done that!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
splendidbetta Posted October 9, 2006 Report Share Posted October 9, 2006 Ah yes, now I understand and agree more :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterJ Posted October 9, 2006 Report Share Posted October 9, 2006 Ditto - it's the organics that's the problem not the gravel per se. With a finer gravel/sand, solid wastes will be easier to remove mechanically (eg with a filter). Sorry for being pedantic Lisa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess Posted October 10, 2006 Report Share Posted October 10, 2006 and fish cannot get into the gaps well enough to eat the leftover foods. So would everyone agree that finer gravel with regular gravel vacuumming would at least would be most ideal?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
splendidbetta Posted October 10, 2006 Report Share Posted October 10, 2006 Yes, if the gravel isn't allowed to become anaerobic as previously drescribed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterJ Posted October 10, 2006 Report Share Posted October 10, 2006 I have sections of my gravel deep enough to alow some anaerobic areas. It farts pretty regularly but they don't stink so we get on ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess Posted October 10, 2006 Report Share Posted October 10, 2006 LOL. ....A few weeks when I aquascaped my 4ft, I lifted a log and OH MY GOD! The 600mls (at least) of bubbles that travelled up and right into my face almost killed me!! (although I think I was in more danger of wetting myself laughing as I was stuck with arm in tank ) I thought I was in the bog of eternal stench!!! :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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