Hunt Perfect Brackish Planted Tank Substrate

[jonny5]

so looking for ideas for planted brackish tank substrate, i will be moving hopefully soon and have an opportunity for tank reformating then
conditions

-plants
- dragon gobies and regular gobies will be digging, as well as horse faced loaches
- will need a sand fine enough for fish happyness but not too fine as to cloud water at any disturbance(i have finely crushed argonite sand which is hell on water clarity)
- plants will probably be in corners so as to not be in main path of fish
- top substrate i want to be dark, preferably black but a darker one than tan will do
- sand must not be rough like generic silica sand or tahitian moon, so as to not hurt my fishes
- PH is not an issue, the tank is a light brack and my water out the tap is already 7.8

so far the only ones i can think of are

-estes black sand
-soilmaster select
- home depot washed river sand(is a bit light in color for my liking though)

any more options or info on the ones i listed would be usefull, ty.

 

[nmonks]

Because of the digging fish, you need to be very careful here.

I'd recommend placing an inch-depth of fine gravel mixed with some sort of plant-friendly supplement (such as pond soil) at the bottom. Then go to the garden centre and have them cut you a piece of fine plastic mesh big enough to cover the bottom of the tank. You could use a gravel tidy instead, but that's more expensive. Either way, put this on top of the inch depth of substrate. Dump some rocks and bogwood on top to hold it all down. Plants will send their roots down to this layer, but the fish cannot dig into it, so it won't be mixed with the water. Another benefit of having this meshed-in layer is that it acts as a cushion, so even if the burrowing fish undermine a rock, it can't fall down and hit the glass.

Now add another couple of inches of either smooth silica sand or very fine gravel. You can also use river sand, but since that tends to be calcareous, it will affect pH and carbonate hardness. Burrowing fish will scoot about in this without going through the mesh, so you should find the tank stays fairly clean.

Do be aware that many of the "fancy" substrates are not burrower-friendly. For example Tahitian Moon Sand is a glass byproduct, and it is too abrasive to be safe with such fish. Retailers generally have no clue at all, but the better manufacturers will tell you, as here at Carib Sea:

http/www.caribsea.com/pages/products/super_nat.html

Cheers, Neale

 

[jonny5]

ooo that mesh thing is a great idea neale, i gotta try that.
And quick question, how is it taht everything on the caribsea site for substrates its either soft belly safe or burrowing safe but never both. I dont understand how something can be soft belly safe but not burrower safe and vice versa.

But as for silica sand, i just dont like the color and since that 3m quartz stuff is no longer in production, i think river sand might do best, brackish river with giant valls oo ya.

 

[nmonks]

A substrate that is "soft belly safe" won't abrade the skin or gills of fish. This is the one you want for eels, gobies, catfish, etc. A substrate that is "burrower safe" is really a marine aquarium issue where shrimps and gobies are kept that need to build stable burrows. Such substrates hold together better, so these animals can make burrows that don't collapse on them. It's a clumsy term, and I'd sooner they used something like "good for tunnels".

The thing with silica sand is that it's the colour of sand. Complaining about its colour is like complaining that trees are green or the sky is blue. Once put in the aquarium it does darken over time, or at least seems to, perhaps because your eyes become used to the contrast. Algae and plants help to make the sand look less obviously pale, and you can also stir in a little gravel if you want to add some texture and colour. But really, it's a very good substrate at a very low price. Yes, river sand is a viable alternative for you, but if you're keeping a soft water community tank, silica sand is the better bet because it's lime-free.

Cheers, Neale