First - the substrate: Schultz aquatic plant soil or Eco-complete?

bluebeta · #1 (**permalink**) 02-04-2010, 12:29 AM

Ok, I'm getting ready to get the ball rolling with a planted tank, and wonder if you guys have any preferences for the two substrates in question. Which is better for plants and fish? I think I can get Schultz aquatic plant soil locally from Ace Hardware store, but what about Eco-complete, does it need to be mail order?

JoeCreature · #2 (**permalink**) 02-04-2010, 01:24 AM

Depends. I have heard of Schultz causing some instability in parameters, especially phosphate. However, it is cheap and when mixed with a little other gravel or sand of your choice makes a great substrate.

Eco-complete is the hotness. Not the easiest or cheapest to get but worth the cash.

Also, flourite is a great substrate......but it has hardness issues maybe.....someone refresh my memory.

Depends on the plants and fishes you plan on keeping, hard water vs. soft water.

reeffreak · #3 (**permalink**) 02-04-2010, 08:45 AM

I do not know much about the choices actually and the benefits over the risk as I am new to the planted tank. but i am using eco complete in my 180 and it seems to be doing well so far. I have not been dosing or using CO2 yet and I have some decent growth i would say for it only being set up for a few weeks. I will be using CO2 in the near future though (just got the set up yesterday)

gerald · #4 (**permalink**) 02-04-2010, 01:43 PM

Schultz aquatic plant "soil" is fired clay; basically the same material as clay flowerpots. You can buy the same stuff in bigger bags as "TurfFace" sold for use on baseball fields. It's chemically inert (wont leach phosphate) but it does adsorb phophate, iron etc and holds them where plant roots can then uptake them. One thing I dont like about it is that it's light weight and gets blown around or sucked up easily when siphoning off the bottom. If you mix it with heavier sand, it wont stay mixed but will end up on top.

JoeCreature · #5 (**permalink**) 02-04-2010, 01:48 PM

Thanks gerald, never used the stuff myself. I remembered hearing that "lightness" was an issue.

Do you know of any "cheap" substitute that would be on par with Eco-complete or Flourite?

customdrumfinish · #6 (**permalink**) 02-04-2010, 01:55 PM

the shultz stuff doesnt weigh alot so it wont hold plants down well, i tried it once and didnt like it.
the turface stuff is great if you can actually find it for sale
most people use eco complete, flourite or regular gravel for planted tanks

gerald · #7 (**permalink**) 02-04-2010, 02:08 PM

Personally I think local sandy/clayey soil is just as good as any commercial product, so long as you're not keeping any hard-core digging fish in the tank. If possible get it from a forest or recently clear-cut site; less likely to have any harmful contaminants. Soak soil in a bucket full of water a few days, stir occasionally, and pour off whatever doesn't settle. Then you can mix the waterlogged soil with sand for a bottom layer and add plain sand/gravel for a top layer. If you dont have a safe source of clean soil, Diana Walstad has good results with Miracle Gro Organic Choice potting soil. (it has no added fertilizers).

Edit: Let me qualify the above statement saying that I mainly keep "easy" plants. This method might work fine for "difficult" plants too but I can't speak from experience in that realm.

JoeCreature · #8 (**permalink**) 02-04-2010, 02:10 PM

Thanks. I'll store that one away for my next local tank.

bluebeta · #9 (**permalink**) 02-06-2010, 09:24 PM

Many thanks for your info on the substrates. Hmm... flourite – I didn’t know about it. I recently read many positive feedbacks on Eco-complete too, and would consider it when I actually use it in the setup. While I will work on the stand and the canopy, I will probably use the Schultz or the TurfFace fired clay in my 30g tank to start out the stock plants so I can transplant their offspring into the larger tank later. I have some concern with the lightness of the fired clay substrate. If 3” depth is not enough, maybe I can make it 4”?

Reeffreak, glad to know Eco-complete works well for you. As for the lighting, how much wattage do you use in your aquarium? I’m looking into T5. The general recommendation I read was about 1watt per gallon. What do you all think about that? If I use 1 48” T5 tube at 54 watt in 55g tank, would that be enough?

Funny that Gerald mentioned about the garden clay soil, which I have aplenty in the backyard

and I used few shovels of that dirt in my miniature lotus in the “pond” a.k.a plastic tub. Sprinkled in some 10-10-10 and they’ve grown and bloomed quite well. They completely shaded the anacharis and decimated them for good. Even the duckweed didn’t have a chance under the shade of lotus leaves. I missed the duckweed, but that’s another story. It’s true in nature aquatic plants grow in the mud on the pond bottom. But I’m not sure to use it in the aquarium yet (maybe until I’ve gained more experience with substrates) as I probably will move/arrange plants around in the tank quite often to get the view I want.

reeffreak · #10 (**permalink**) 02-06-2010, 10:04 PM

well so far so good on the eco complete. i am using metal halides on my tank btu only because i had them. Right now I have 2 x 250 watts 10k on there . I had 14k and have recently switched. so far so good. I have had growth already and the tank has been set up about a month. i just added a CO2 set up today so I am hoping for positive results with that lighting. I like the T5 lights and contemplated selling my MH's but decided since i had them to go ahead and try them. FW is new to me and even more so a planted FW tank so I am on a huge learning curve.

but never the less i am having fun!!