Substrate Help

[supermonkey]

Hi all,

Just wondered if you could give me some advice.

Do you see a problem with using white gravel and it getting dirty? Could anyone advise a good gravel to use at a reasonable price.

I'm also considering the cat litter approach (maybe this http/www.petsathome.com/find/category-is...product-detail) with white gravel as capping, but I'm not sure if I understand all of the implications of this.

Also, not sure if this is the right place for this, but if I test stones with vinegar to make sure they don't dissolve and wash thoroughly is there any reason I can't use any old stones rather than things from the lfs? How about shells?

Thanks

 

[aaronnorth]

i would stay away from white gravel, over time they will discolour, and become brown. the only way to clean them is to remove from the tank and give it a really good wash, in boiling water so it isnt practical.

that is fine, if you change your mind jut look for 100% clay cat litter.

i used stones from my back garden, the vinegar test just means it will raise the pH of the water, this isnt that important unless you require specific water conditions.
shells will raise the GH of the water because they are made from calcium, so as they slowly dissolve the GH will rise, again, not much of a problem

 

[supermonkey]

i would stay away from white gravel, over time they will discolour, and become brown. the only way to clean them is to remove from the tank and give it a really good wash, in boiling water so it isnt practical.

that is fine, if you change your mind jut look for 100% clay cat litter.

i used stones from my back garden, the vinegar test just means it will raise the pH of the water, this isnt that important unless you require specific water conditions.
shells will raise the GH of the water because they are made from calcium, so as they slowly dissolve the GH will rise, again, not much of a problem

Thanks for that - very useful. I'm mainly just keeping cardinals and guppies etc, not really sure how important GH and PH are for this.

 

[Ben M]

for the cardinals i wouldn't use shells, and would only use rocks that have passed the "vinegar test"

 

[supermonkey]

for the cardinals i wouldn't use shells, and would only use rocks that have passed the "vinegar test"

Hi, thanks for that... so do you think using shells would harm the fish then? Can anyone recommend a good value substrate that looks nice? We were all set to have white!

 

[supermonkey]

for the cardinals i wouldn't use shells, and would only use rocks that have passed the "vinegar test"

Hi, thanks for that... so do you think using shells would harm the fish then? Can anyone recommend a good value substrate that looks nice? We were all set to have white!

Had almost forgotten about all this - been busy with some diy!