Re: [APD] RE: cables and such

["S. Hieber" <shieber at yahoo_com>]

My opinions: Three substrates that I recommend are
SeaChem's Flourite, SeaChems' Onyx Sand, and CaribSea's
Eco-Complete.

Each of these can be used by itself without supplemental
subtrates. Onxy Sand has a slight buffering capacity; the
other two do not. Eco-Complete is nearly black in water.
Onyx Sand is grey-slate colored. Fluorite comes in a
reddish color and in a darker version that is very popular.
You can check them out on the SeaChem.com web site and
Carib-sea.com (at Eco-complete is the last item on the 8th
page of the product catalogue on the website).

If you don't find them in your lfs, you can order them
online, and even with shipping it might be cheaper than
getting it from your lfs.

These substrates are porous (clay or clay-like material),
which is good for planted aquaria, unlike the epoxy-coated
gravel available in lfss in a wide variety of "natural" and
artificial colors.

If you use plain gravel/coarse sand (not epoxy coated, of
course) a thin layer of laterite mixed into the bottom inch
can help compensate for lack of porosity of the
gravel/sand.

Scott H.
--- Laith Arif <laith at swissonline_ch> wrote:
> 
> Many thanks for the insight/feedback re cable heating!
> 
> Your comments do make good sense and I will install the
> next planted
> aquarium without the cable heating (in any case, it will
> be a good test
> because I can compare to the one that does have it).
> 
> Regarding the "richness" of the substrate, I was thinking
> of the
> commercially available substrates that you put under the
> gravel or mix with
> the gravel.
> 
> Dennerle's Deponit and Tetra's AquaBasis Plus come to
> mind.  Those are the
> only two I have seen here in lfs'.
> 
> Is this type of substrate worth using? Or do you prefer
> diy (if so, what do
> you use?) or nothing but gravel and some fertilizer
> "sticks" or "balls"?
> Keep in mind that the tank will have high light and CO2
> injection.
> 
> Thanks and regards,
> 
> Laith
> 
> 
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