Sand Or Carpet ?

[pyro0849]

I am using Flourite as a substrate for my current plants, but I would like to make it look nicer and still be operating smoothly. I like the looks of both sand and the planted tanks with an all dwarf grass carpet.

1. For sand, will it be a headache in the future trying to keep the sand on top of the flourite, or should I just remove all the flourite and make it all sand. Will I need to do anything special to keep the sand from getting anerobic bacteria? Tell me all you know about using sand if you use it on the bottom of your tanks please.

2. For dwarf grass carpet, Is this more hassle free or more of a hassle? Will I still need to vacumn the carpet instead of vacumning the flourite, or will the grass absorb all the decaying material? Also, assuming i'm leaving the flourite under the carpet, how often should I change the flourite substrate for the carpet to remain healthy? I may be moving to a new house within a year, would replanting the carpet be a real hard task or is it fairly easy to do? Tell me all you know about carpets if you guys know anything pleaseeee.

Thank you to whoever can help me on this.

 

[bubblesburst80]

i like the idea of dwarf grass too will be interesting to see your answers

xXx

 

[Dave Spencer]

1. For sand, will it be a headache in the future trying to keep the sand on top of the flourite, or should I just remove all the flourite and make it all sand. Will I need to do anything special to keep the sand from getting anerobic bacteria? Tell me all you know about using sand if you use it on the bottom of your tanks please.

I`m not sure whether the sand will stay on top, but it should be no problem if you just used a thin layer of flourite beneath the sand. I don`t do anything specifically to prevent the sand in my 120l getting anaerobic. Plant roots oxygenate the substrate, plus I have some MTS that live in the sand.

2. For dwarf grass carpet, Is this more hassle free or more of a hassle? Will I still need to vacumn the carpet instead of vacumning the flourite, or will the grass absorb all the decaying material? Also, assuming i'm leaving the flourite under the carpet, how often should I change the flourite substrate for the carpet to remain healthy? I may be moving to a new house within a year, would replanting the carpet be a real hard task or is it fairly easy to do? Tell me all you know about carpets if you guys know anything pleaseeee.

Personally, I find hairgrass to be hassle free. If you are serious about a planted tank, then you needn`t bother vacuuming the substrate. I have never done it once on any of my planted tanks, and I am not sure how I would go about vacuuming a heavily planted tank anyway.

Planting hairgrass is very easy, but one thing I do recommend is cutting it all back to substrate level after it is planted. Any of the grass that dies off after initial planting will become a major algae magnet. I cut my Eleocharis `parvula` about 2cm above the substrate and still managed to get a major outbreak of Rhizoclonium. Here is a picture after I managed to clear it. The hairgrass still has some filling out to do:

Cheers, Dave.

 

[pyro0849]

1. For sand, will it be a headache in the future trying to keep the sand on top of the flourite, or should I just remove all the flourite and make it all sand. Will I need to do anything special to keep the sand from getting anerobic bacteria? Tell me all you know about using sand if you use it on the bottom of your tanks please.

I`m not sure whether the sand will stay on top, but it should be no problem if you just used a thin layer of flourite beneath the sand. I don`t do anything specifically to prevent the sand in my 120l getting anaerobic. Plant roots oxygenate the substrate, plus I have some MTS that live in the sand.

2. For dwarf grass carpet, Is this more hassle free or more of a hassle? Will I still need to vacumn the carpet instead of vacumning the flourite, or will the grass absorb all the decaying material? Also, assuming i'm leaving the flourite under the carpet, how often should I change the flourite substrate for the carpet to remain healthy? I may be moving to a new house within a year, would replanting the carpet be a real hard task or is it fairly easy to do? Tell me all you know about carpets if you guys know anything pleaseeee.

Personally, I find hairgrass to be hassle free. If you are serious about a planted tank, then you needn`t bother vacuuming the substrate. I have never done it once on any of my planted tanks, and I am not sure how I would go about vacuuming a heavily planted tank anyway.

Planting hairgrass is very easy, but one thing I do recommend is cutting it all back to substrate level after it is planted. Any of the grass that dies off after initial planting will become a major algae magnet. I cut my Eleocharis `parvula` about 2cm above the substrate and still managed to get a major outbreak of Rhizoclonium. Here is a picture after I managed to clear it. The hairgrass still has some filling out to do:

Cheers, Dave.

What do you mean by cutting it back to substrate level? Cutting the grass short to keep grass underneth from dying?
Also, do you know anywhere online I can order the parvula? I havn't been able to find anyone who has it.

 

[Musho3210]

get some MTS for the sand bed (malaysian trumpet snails)

 

[reggieschuey]

cutting to substrate level meaning cutting the grass really short to allow new hairgrass growth. This would also induce faster growth. It' s just an easy method to keep algae in check

 

[pyro0849]

get some MTS for the sand bed (malaysian trumpet snails)

Thanks guys,

Do I dare ask.... what will the malaysian trumpet snail do?
I have a few little brown ones that came with the plants, Should I remove them or are they ok to clean my tank?

 

[Musho3210]

They are nocturnal. Most dont eat living plants, they eat algae, and since they are nocturnal, where do you suppose they hide during the day? The sandbed . They burrow and dig around in the sand during the day oxygenating roots and preventing anerobic spots as well as delivering nutrients in the water column to the roots of the plants.