crushed coral and black sand mix

[tys91]

hey guys
what are your thoughts on half crushed coral sand and standard black qaurtz or some other neatrual ph sand in my guppy tank planted tank

I have 10kgs i found hear in my house that i could use. I do know guppy , swords mollies etc dont mind hard water and higher ph. what are your thoughts on this

cheers
Tys

[mnemenoi]

I am able to do quite well with that sort of substrate in my low tech tanks. Just dose with fertilizers, root tabs and have a decent light and you should be fine. What are your water parameters there? I have a feeling ours are litterally worlds apart (had to say it...)

[tys91]

Re: crushed coral and black sand mix

lol my tank isnt setup yet still organising
since il.be having a medium tech planted tank i might do a layer of eco complete which is less expensive down here then flourite. .... mmm substrates are giving me a headache lol

we have good ph where i am its 99% of the time 7.0 which is great for.my fish i keep. I never touch it. I dont add chemicals. if somthings high or low il.just water change and clean
cheers
Tys

[mnemenoi]

Right on, I asked as our water here is about 8.0-8.2 out of the tap. Thus the crushed coral never really buffers anything, but in a lower Ph area I imagine it would be far more efeective. Eco-Complete has always done very well for me and I certainly recommend it to anyone.

What exactly is medium tech? I have always seen it used as either Low tech (no CO2) or High tech (with CO2). Even high light, no CO2 systems I categorize as low tech.

[tys91]

Re: crushed coral and black sand mix

wow thats a big difference. May not.be worth while me running it then, it says its for cichlids so i cpuld imagine it may raose it to 8 or so and i dont want to have to manualy control it.

sorry im a begginer, medium as in medium light plants. Im setting my lights up to run plants that require medium intensity. Il.be using 4x39w for my 100gal also co2

mmmm as for subatrates. Im a little scared spending 300. Wouls you rexcomend maybe 2" play sand and 1" complete sub + ferts and tabs.

wlso how often do i add tabbs and it expensive ?

cheers
Tys

[mnemenoi]

Yes, with Co2 injection you would not want to use coral or anything that will buffer the TDS/Ph up in the water. You would be chasing your own tail and basically making a Kalkwasser reactor (Used in SW tanks to increase calcium for SPS/LPS corals). You would experiance huge swings in PH and it would be a stressor for anything alive in that system as the Ph would swing every night and day. Eco-complete and play sand should be fine. Just dose with some ferts and root tabs and see what does well and you like

[mnemenoi]

Root tabs can be expensive (depending on brand and what they do, not sure what is available there), but I only use them 1 every 6months to a year. Add them at the start to the substrate spread where your focus species are. Then add as you see a slow down in growth or color in the plant. I imagine a $10 bag of 10 tabs should get you going and dose agin in 6 months/year as you think is needed.

[tys91]

Re: crushed coral and black sand mix

very good explanation thankyou
all makes sense.

Flourite is actauly cheaper for 5bags to cover 1" so il go with that and 2" pfs

also is ot 1 tab per plant ? silly question but im a begginer

cheers
Tys

[mnemenoi]

Flourite will be fine, it has done terrific in our planted tanks and we are quite pleased with the results. Root tabs should be placed in the substrate and 1 should be fine for general area coverage (6-8" around it) and possibly used for prized/high uptake plants(like a large Ozelot sword). I use Seachem Root Tabs and they explain their use on their site under instructions. Just read the instructions on the ones you choose and you'll be fine.

[tys91]

Re: crushed coral and black sand mix

very informational
thanks alot

cheers
Tys