Dirt/gravel substrate

[mike046]

Hey guys... I hope some of u can help with ur opinions. I have a 125gl BB with potted plants and it's great when it comes to cleaning,but it seems so plain I've seen a few planted ones and wow just beautiful. I was on YouTube and there's a guy in Dustinfishtanks who uses dirt substrate and his plants look great he's not a discus hobbiest but has other fish In them, I was wondering to have something like that would u guys recommend a dirt substrate with gravel or sand on top? Also this guy doesn't use any CO2 .

[TWA]

Agh. If you must use substrate cap it with sand. I wouldn't recommend dirt with discus due to the amount of everything it leeches into the water. Head over to Plantedtank.net to learn about plants, they aren't easy and shouldn't be mixed with discus unless you know %100 what you're doing with both. If not something will end up dead.

[crazycracker]

I use a very fine gravel on top & underneath CaribSea Eco-Complete. Of course now the Eco-Complete is starting 2 pop up. Its worked pretty well so far. By NO MEANS am i an expert or claim 2b. U will get different ideas & comments. Best suggestion is do a lot of research.

You can look @ my set up - from the beginning to present
http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?83576-120-Gallon-Getting-started

Hope this helps! GOOD LUCK!

[mike046]

Nice set up... I guess I'll do a little more research. I'll do a 20 gl and see that works out. But anyw thanks guys still like to here from someone that has a dirt substrate.

[strawberryblonde]

I tried a planted tank with dirt substrate and eco-complete on top. What a pain in the butt that was! My discus required heavy vacuuming to remove food and poop, and that ended up stirring up the dirt around the plants no matter how careful I was. I also found that the dirt tended to produce a lot of hydrogen sulfide bubbles...not good!

I switched over to straight sand substrate and found that my plants did just as well with that as they did with the soil substrate. I used all low light loving plants and never used co2. I did use Flourish plant ferts, but that was it.

I no longer have a planted tank for my discus because I found that I really preferred the driftwood and sand look. That will probably change over time since I'm the kind of girl who rearranges furniture every 6 months too. LOL

If you decide to go for it, be absolutely sure to purchase straight garden soil with NO additives.

[DerekFF]

Miracle grow organic choice soil is the dirt of choice for most planted tanks. Screen it out to separate the larger bark pieces from the dirt. Let it dry out at least 1 time before putting it in the tank. Mineralizing it would be best, but that could take a week of work for a 125g. Anyways thats the dirt of choice capped with gravel or sand.

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[Larry Bugg]

Also this guy doesn't use any CO2 .

What kind of substrate has no affect on this. Whether or not you will need Co2 is dependent on how much light you are running. You have to balance light, ferts and Co2.

[Wahter]

Skip the dirt substrate - even if you put a layer of sand on top, what will happen when you want to pull a plant out? Big mess. And if you have sand, you'll want to stir that up now and then anyway.

You don't need to have a very fancy setup to grow plants. Lots of plants can grow without adding CO2. I've grown some Hygrophila, Sagittaria, Microsorum (Java Fern), Echinodorus (sword plants), and Anubias without adding CO2 into the tank.

On the other hand, Amano does pump in CO2 into his tanks and they are really pretty. :)

Hope that helps,


Walter

[mandell]

What kind of substrate has no affect on this. Whether or not you will need Co2 is dependent on how much light you are running. You have to balance light, ferts and Co2.

well said balance is key if you’re trying to avoid fertilizers all together I would suggest layering your substrate there are 3 products I would use to start a new tank the first layer being (First Layer™ Pure Laterite, Natural Substrate for Freshwater Plants) this will provide a good base and long lasting nutrition for your plants then add a layer of (Eco - complete Planted Aquarium Substrate) this one has larger and smaller particles and comes in red and black it also provides many of the macro and micro nutrients your plants will need for long vibrant color the 3erd and final layer (is up to you nothing fancy required as the first two layers will provide you nutrients you the last layer is ether sand or a standard gravel color of you choice depending on how you like it)

If adding anything to already graveled tanks I would just ad in Eco - complete Planted Aquarium Substrate and mix it into the substrate you already have, ( First Layer™ Pure Laterite, Natural Substrate for Freshwater Plants) must be put on the bottom of the tank and is rather hard to do if there is gravel already in the tank.

I hope this helps