Help me with my substrate please?

[Phoenix Quill]

So, I decided that I wanted to change from gravel to flourite substrate, but my brother suggested using white sand to cap the top to make it look better. When I had put it in, it did look great until I added water. Now my tank is super cloudy because when I put water in it kicked up the sand and some of the dirt underneath it. When it did settle, unfortunately the white sand was no longer very white looking, and I mistakenly thought that I could rake the sand to cover that back up. Now I think that the white sand is getting too mixed in with the flourite substrate underneath it, am I too late to fix this, or is there still a way that I could have the white sand on top? Or possibly be able to reseperate it?

 

[LindaJanie]

Most of us have done something similar. The one time (years ago) I tried this, I failed to "fix" the problem but ran with it anyhow. After the tank settled, it ended up looking cool, but I do like a more natural, wild tank. Sorry!

 

[Byron]

So, I decided that I wanted to change from gravel to flourite substrate, but my brother suggested using white sand to cap the top to make it look better. When I had put it in, it did look great until I added water. Now my tank is super cloudy because when I put water in it kicked up the sand and some of the dirt underneath it. When it did settle, unfortunately the white sand was no longer very white looking, and I mistakenly thought that I could rake the sand to cover that back up. Now I think that the white sand is getting too mixed in with the flourite substrate underneath it, am I too late to fix this, or is there still a way that I could have the white sand on top? Or possibly be able to reseperate it?

Never use two different substrate materials, as they will inevitably mix. If the sand is smaller-grain than the Flourite (this comes in a sand and a larger-grain gravel) the sand will certainly be under the Flourite. Smaller grains sink, larger remain above.

Since you may be taking this out anyway, I would suggest you not use white sand. This is detrimental to most fish because they do not expect a white substrate and it reflects light which makes it worse still. Your fish will be much more colourful because they will be less bothered by a darkish substrate.

Second point is that Flourite (which I had for two years in my 70g tank) turned out to be a total waste of money. It does not provide nutrients to plants, and it is too rough for substrate fish if you have these (cories, loaches especially).

 

[utahfish]

I also used fluorite, it was useless though it did manage to grow these little tufts of fuzzy algae all over it.

 

[Retired Viking]

Perhaps if you were to tell us what you plan to plant we could steer you towards a better substrate. Are you planning on just having a planted tank or do you plan on having fish too? As far as fluorite is concerned, I have never used it in part because of all the negative experiences others have had and I do not want to have to replace it every year or two.

 

[Retired Viking]

Oh-Hello and welcome to the forum.

 

[Phoenix Quill]

Oh-Hello and welcome to the forum.

Hello, yeah, I'm new,and panicking.
I was planning on upgrading my 29 gallon tank,home to 12 guppies,4 platties and 6 corrys. Thankfully, I have another temporary home for them until the water settles back down. The plants, that's an interesting article, there's a bush I'm not actually worried about, it's almost a weed with how strong it was growing in just gravel. The main thing I'm trying to get growing, is a lot of stem plants, the idea being, once they grow strong enough, I can move them to the 55 gallon tank in my living room. I have 4 set up, two with sand, and one with gravel.this was my first attempt in using dirt substrate, or flourite i suppose, but because I have corrys, I figured I should cap it with sand anyway.

 

[Byron]

Hello, yeah, I'm new,and panicking.
I was planning on upgrading my 29 gallon tank,home to 12 guppies,4 platties and 6 corrys. Thankfully, I have another temporary home for them until the water settles back down. The plants, that's an interesting article, there's a bush I'm not actually worried about, it's almost a weed with how strong it was growing in just gravel. The main thing I'm trying to get growing, is a lot of stem plants, the idea being, once they grow strong enough, I can move them to the 55 gallon tank in my living room. I have 4 set up, two with sand, and one with gravel.this was my first attempt in using dirt substrate, or flourite i suppose, but because I have corrys, I figured I should cap it with sand anyway.

Corydoras cannot be housed over Flourite, you are correct. But as the sand will mix, it would be best not to have them in this tank if you use Flourite. The white sand is not good for them either as I mentioned previously.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

I would never personally recommend to use 2 different substrates in the same tank. I have play sand in all of my tanks and it looks and works great.

I also don’t suggest using white sand. It can harm the fish, because the light will reflect off of it and right into their eyes.

 

[Phoenix Quill]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

I would never personally recommend to use 2 different substrates in the same tank. I have play sand in all of my tanks and it looks and works great.

I also don’t suggest using white sand. It can harm the fish, because the light will reflect off of it and right into their eyes.

Well, I wound up pretty much giving up on the substrate for the moment, I had a talk with someone about it,and they suggested mixing it up and, well it looks okay, the sand settled to the bottom of the tank.
I'm going to move my corredoras to the 55 gallon in the living room, and just keep the guppies and platties in with the plants.
I have organic top soil, maybe that's a better idea? If so, I can just throw out the flourite substrate, but I am frustrated because I spent 30 dollars on it and the sand.
I know it makes me sound and feel cheap,but I am on a budget.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Well, I wound up pretty much giving up on the substrate for the moment, I had a talk with someone about it,and they suggested mixing it up and, well it looks okay, the sand settled to the bottom of the tank.
I'm going to move my corredoras to the 55 gallon in the living room, and just keep the guppies and platties in with the plants.
I have organic top soil, maybe that's a better idea? If so, I can just throw out the flourite substrate, but I am frustrated because I spent 30 dollars on it and the sand.
I know it makes me sound and feel cheap,but I am on a budget.

An organic top soil won’t help. If you put the soil under the regular sand, that would help. (If the soil is specifically made for aquarium use. )

 

[Byron]

Organic soil is much more of a problem biologically with the chemistry than an aquarium plant substrate, thouugh I gather from what others have posted in older threads that this can occur too. But organics decompose, and this produces ammonia and CO2, and newly set-up tanks with organic soil can have dire consequences for up to six months; fish will be poisoned rapidly, so most who do use soil recommend a dry start and no fish for six months. But here again, there is no benefit to soil aside from the initial CO2, so it is a high risk for no real benefit.

Any inert substrate such as play sand, fine aquarium gravel or sand, will rapidly develop an organic component. This provides the majority of CO2 needed by plants, and ammonia is not sufficient here that it cannot be readily taken up by plants. Safer for fish, and just as effective for plants.

I spent $180 for the Flourite in my 70g. When I tore it down after two years of not only no plant benefit I could see, plus having to remove my cories (it seriously damaged some of them, one even lost 1/3 of its lower jaw) from the tank, I replaced it with two bags of play sand for a total of $12 and the plants have thrived and the fish are safe and happy. The cories over play sand recovered, though the one with 1/3 of its lower jaw missing does look comical, but he has been able to eat to have lived the six years since.

 

[Retired Viking]

I would suggest that you dump what you have and start over. I had to do this awhile back when I tried soil. I now have regular gravel and -3mm fine gravel in my tanks and use plant tabs for my rooted plants and flourish for my plants that adsorb what they need from the water. It will be easier in the long run and save you work and trouble.

 

[Phoenix Quill]

Thanks for your advice and help, if I can find play sand or pool filter sand, I will change it asap.
I tried Walmart, but no such luck.

 

[Byron]

Thanks for your advice and help, if I can find play sand or pool filter sand, I will change it asap.
I tried Walmart, but no such luck.

Play Sand is available from Home Depot, Lowe's and likely similar places. The dark tone is better if you can get it locally (there is also a lighter buff tone, OK if that is what they carry locally). This is a safer sand if substrate fish like cories are intended.