Starting Afresh

[vinylman]

Hi all,
In the next few weeks I'll be moving my 48''x18''x15'' tank back into the living room now that we've finished redecorating. When I moved it out, I had to lose all the fertiliser I had under the gravel (Tetra Complete Substrate) which I found was fabulous. I don't have any difficulty keeping plants, but even with the run-of-the-mill stuff the growth was greatly improved with the Tetra Substrate. The only thing that may stop me using the Tetra stuff again is that I like to dig well down into the gravel while doing a water change. I'm thinking about a layer of API Laterite with more gravel on top. I have an Arcadia Overtank Luminaire (2x38 watts) and haven't had any trouble growing the usual suspects. Is it worth using a CO2 system like the Nutrafin one, or is just under 2WPG enough along with the Laterite?. Just had another thought: I've often read that well-planted tanks shouldn't really need to be gravel vacuumed too thoroughly. If I went back to the Tetra Complete Substrate, what would be the ideal depth of gravel to top it with to ensure I don't dig up any of the Tetra fertiliser?. I'm aiming to cover around half of the tank with plants.

 

[jimbooo]

Hi There, firstly CO2 will greatly improve growth in ANY system no matter how low light. i used 2 nutrafin's on a 50G planted tank with 1.3 WPG with very pleasing results (see journal in sig)

i have always used laterite under gravel and no matter wat you do the layers will eventually mix. with normal gravel this doesn't notice much but if your using black gravel it will be mor noticeable. plant growth will stillbe fine once the layers mix, ltrite is still in the substrate and the roots will find it no matter where it is.

as to depth i woud go for a total substrate depth of 3 inches give or take in the centre of the tank, lower at the front and sloping up as you get towards the rear. generally background plants will have a greater root structure than forground plants so will benefit from this added depth.

 

[vinylman]

Thanks for the quick reply, James, some food for thought there. Luckily, I've just found a local shop that has a big selection of plants, so my horizons have broadened somewhat. Just a shame that Tropica plants are so hard to find online in the U.K. for delivery. Think I'll go with the Laterite. I'll definitely try the CO2. Thanks again.

 

[jimbooo]

i ave been told birstall sell tropica plants. i am about to order a ton of stuff from there. i cant see topica mentioned on the site though. can anyone confirm this?

link

i have bought from greenline before with no problems. they aren't tropica though.

greenline

 

[vinylman]

Yes, I've had fabulous stuff from Greenline, too - really good packaging as well. I'll probably stick with them.