boxman
Fishaholic
I'm in the process of cycling a new-to-me Jewel Vision 260 with Rena+3 but havenāt added substrate yet as I'm confused as to what I should go for.
My aim is to have healthy plants that are easy to maintain - happy to put in the work but don't want to have to spend huge amounts on lots of ferts, certainly long term.
Iāve kept fish for 20+ years but last time I setup a tank from scratch external filters had just become affordable and undergravel systems were all the rage
I donāt want sand and would rather not have 3ā of ferts substrate as firstly it would cost too much and secondly I have a very dark background on the tank and with black substrate I think it would look too dark(?)
Anyway my questions:
1) I like the idea of using a product like eco-complete but can I mix this with regular pea gravel? If so how does siphoning work as surely the idea would be to create a layer of ferts with another substrate on top? Wouldnāt the ferts be brought to the top?
2) At the moment I have two unopened bags of pea gravel, one 3mm and the other 5mm ā would my idea of having 1ā layer of eco-complete with 2ā of mixed 3mm/5mm pea gravel be ok?
3) Iāve seen these attachable bulb reflectors that can be added to stock Jewel lighting systems, are these good to go for or just getting some higher wattage bulbs the best thing to do?
4) For 3ā coverage am I right in saying about 50kg substrate is about enough?
My current stock are in my hospital tank and need to get them out in another 2 weeks as it is really far too small (hadnāt imagined it would take me this long to decide on what to do!
Iām not adverse to using Co2 but would like to get the aquascape sorted first before I add all that sort of stuff - for now.
Thanks and hopefully havenāt asked questions that are easily found as I have had a good search around first but couldnāt find anything specifically along the same lines.
My aim is to have healthy plants that are easy to maintain - happy to put in the work but don't want to have to spend huge amounts on lots of ferts, certainly long term.
Iāve kept fish for 20+ years but last time I setup a tank from scratch external filters had just become affordable and undergravel systems were all the rage
I donāt want sand and would rather not have 3ā of ferts substrate as firstly it would cost too much and secondly I have a very dark background on the tank and with black substrate I think it would look too dark(?)
Anyway my questions:
1) I like the idea of using a product like eco-complete but can I mix this with regular pea gravel? If so how does siphoning work as surely the idea would be to create a layer of ferts with another substrate on top? Wouldnāt the ferts be brought to the top?
2) At the moment I have two unopened bags of pea gravel, one 3mm and the other 5mm ā would my idea of having 1ā layer of eco-complete with 2ā of mixed 3mm/5mm pea gravel be ok?
3) Iāve seen these attachable bulb reflectors that can be added to stock Jewel lighting systems, are these good to go for or just getting some higher wattage bulbs the best thing to do?
4) For 3ā coverage am I right in saying about 50kg substrate is about enough?
My current stock are in my hospital tank and need to get them out in another 2 weeks as it is really far too small (hadnāt imagined it would take me this long to decide on what to do!
Iām not adverse to using Co2 but would like to get the aquascape sorted first before I add all that sort of stuff - for now.
Thanks and hopefully havenāt asked questions that are easily found as I have had a good search around first but couldnāt find anything specifically along the same lines.
