Re: [APD] first try planted substrate questions

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

I sthis all going into one tank? Why are you making your
substrate so complicated? For aethetic reasons? You don't
need to mix all those things to grow the best looking
plants possible. E.g., Flourite alone with a little peat to
start will do.  So will gravel or sand with a little
laterite at the bottom.

Eco-complete doesn't need any additives, nor does Onyx or
Flourite.  You might add little peat at the start. Lots of
really good gardeners have shown that a simple substrate
works. I don't think anyone has shown that a complicated
one works better.


Are heating cables important. No, not at all. It's a
slightly more efficient way to heat an aquarium compared to
a tube heater but that's about it. A few hold ons and some
newbies still use them. For every claim made for substrate
heaters, you can find a handful of examples where the same
results have been accmplished without electrifying the
gravel. They're generally much more expensive than a tube
heater.

If you put Onyx on top of all the other stuff, well, it's
hard to tellhow it will stratify over time, or how it will
mix each time to plant or remove a plant.  Generally the
smaller grains tend towards the bottom and the larger ones
towards the top, but relavtive mass plus disturbances can
pretty much mess that up.

You can make it as complicated as you want, but simple
works as well or better and it's cheaper.  If you really
like complicated and don't mind the expenses too much, do
like I do and get lots of equipment you don't need. ;-)

Scott H.

Scott H.




--- Aaron Martin <massagetherapist at mail_com> wrote:
> . . .  I am stocking up on Ingredients for my amateur 
> Substrate
> Recipe and had some questions. This is my first time
> trying a real Planted Tank, I currently have tanks with
> plants, but they are not the same things.
> So far I have:
> 110 oz First Layer Pure Laterite,
> 3 dry quarts Uni-Gro brand Vermiculite,
> 8 dry quarts Scotts brand Sphagnum Peat Moss (not
> planning on using it all),
> 4 dry quarts Uni-Gro Pumice (not sure if going to be
> used),
> 30 pounds Schultz brand Aquatic Plant Soil (so far the
> least expensive, only $5.98 each 10 LB bag),
> 15 lbs. CaribSea brand Flora-Max,
> 40 lbs. wet CaribSea brand Eco-Complete Planted Aquarium
> Substrate,
> 12 lbs. Red Sea brand Flora Base,
> 15.4 lbs. Seachem brand red Flourite,
> 30.8 lbs. Seachem black Onyx Sand.
> 2 lbs small grain (2-3 mm) sand for decrotive use
> ~ About. 152 lbs. total.
> 
> . . . I want to use Heating Cables for the substrate, 
> but do
> not know much about them, the only brand I've heard of is
> Dupla. Does anyone have experience with using heating
> cables? Are they really important?


=====
S. Hieber

__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing.
http://photos.yahoo.com/
_______________________________________________
Aquatic-Plants mailing list
Aquatic-Plants at actwin_com
http://www.actwin.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/aquatic-plants