I'm setting up a 50g planted tank as I type. I'm using aquabasis plus as the substrate, and then very fine gravel on top of that.
My idiotic question is - do I have to wash the aquabasis plus - or will that utterly destroy the point of it, and remove every nutrient going ( and mean most of my substrate goes down the sink
)? Or, alternatively, if I don't wash it, will I have red water for ever ?
Also, I have a layer of plastic mesh that I was intending to use as a gravel tidy ( suggestion of someone else IRL who has a planted tank, and is using the same gravel as me) - but as the mesh is wider than the fine gravel, I am wondering if there is any point - will it be able to keep the layers separate? If the mesh was any finer, it would be too restrictive for the plants.
My idiotic question is - do I have to wash the aquabasis plus - or will that utterly destroy the point of it, and remove every nutrient going ( and mean most of my substrate goes down the sink
)? Or, alternatively, if I don't wash it, will I have red water for ever ?Also, I have a layer of plastic mesh that I was intending to use as a gravel tidy ( suggestion of someone else IRL who has a planted tank, and is using the same gravel as me) - but as the mesh is wider than the fine gravel, I am wondering if there is any point - will it be able to keep the layers separate? If the mesh was any finer, it would be too restrictive for the plants.
