Will This Work?

[ICEEGRL]

Hi! I am very new to having live plants. All I have ever had were those drop in bulbs. They do fine, but I would like to go a little further. My problem is that I have marbles, and I keep hearing I need sand. Is that true? I am trying to learn about sand, but I don't get how to keep it clean. Also, I don't have the money right now. I do however have some decent gravel that goes well with my marbles. Can I crush them to get it close to sand? I have mollies and a cory in the tank with 4 bulb plants. They do fine in marbles. Can I crush the gravel and put it where I intend to plant? If not what else can I do. I don't have a pet shop anywhere near me. I all I have is Wal Mart, and it is an hour away.
I would appreciate any help.
I am wanting that dwarf grass for the fry to hide in.
Also another quick one... Can you put plants in front of power filter intake to hide it, or will it keep it from working properly?

Thank you much!!!

Amanda


29 gallon -- fully cycled
3 female mollies
1 cory
1pleco(going back)
5 fry (in sick tank)

 

[Themuleous]

First off, you dont have to have sand at all, gravel it what most people use, but finer stuff is better, around 3mm size.

Changing to gravel will mean you can probably grow a few other species, like swords, to add some variation to the tank.

Oh and I wouldn't even attempt hair grass, its a tricky plants and it sounds like you've not got the right set up to grow it well.

Sam

 

[ICEEGRL]

Thanks!
Do you think I could get away with some micro swords around the back and sides? That is very pretty. What can you tell me about them?
Also Do I need to leave a clear path around my filter? I see people hide their intake and stuff with plants, but I am afraid it will keep it from working properly. Will it? If I can't hide it, how close can I get to it safely?
Also I have a thing with my tank looking clean. Maybe you can tell me how to keep sand clean. I have been told you can't use suction. So how do you do it? I love the look of sand, but I don't want it if I can't keep it clean.
I am about to order some sponge filters as soon as I can figure out which ones and what sizes for all my tanks. Do I need to keep the plants away from them too?
If micro sword won't work, is there anything that you could sugest that will stay short and easy to care for?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Amanda


By the way...would crushed gravel be safe? It is the blue stuff you see every where. (from Wal-mart) I think it would be pretty around the blue tinted and clear marbles. The ones I have are small. I would like to crush the gravel because the gravel is almost as big as the marbles.

 

[ICEEGRL]

ok. I have to order some things. In the catalog there are several sands and gravels!! Sand is pretty... is there one that is better? (easier to clean) does better in fresh water tanks?
Thank you in advance!
Amanda

 

[dasmall1]

The substrate for a planted tank is usually something that has nutrients in it. Tropica, tetra, and seachem make good stuff. What is generally considered "the best" is ADA aquasoil, though it has its cons. Fluorite and eco-complete are safe bets. Does that help?

 

[ICEEGRL]

Are they easy to keep clean? Do you clean that like you would gravel with a vac? If so... very helpful. If not I need to know how to clean it properly, because I really want some live plants.
I have been looking at some of the pics posted. Now I feel plants are a must! I am even thinking I need to put sand in my 1gal. so I can learn how to work with it. Some of those tanks are amazingly beautiful! I want them!!!
Thanks Amanda

 

[CBBP]

you can drive to texas and go to the ADA aqua soil place and pick some up haha.

 

[TammyLiz]

If you have a lot of healthy plants in your tank and adequate filtration you shouldn't really need to clean the substrate much. YMMV, but I've only given mine a stir and sucked up the muck once six months after setup, just to see what was under there, and it wasn't even that bad. Just a little dust, really. I sucked it up with the syphon and the tank was barely cloudy for an hour after I was done. Thats after six months of doing nothing. In that particular tank I have soilmaster, a clay based substrate thats really for use in keeping baseball fields from getting too muddy (only in the US, I think). The plants end up using some of the fish waste as food, and hopefully your filter will be pulling most of the junk into it instead of letting it settle down into the substrate anyways. With sand, mulm collects on the top and you can syphon it off easily. You need to give it a little stir, or poke it every once in a while to keep it from getting dead pockets. But IME gravel in a non planted tank is one of the hardest things to keep clean since fish waste goes in and doesn't come out unless you vac it.

Really the most important way to ensure your substrate doesn't get disgustingly dirty is to make sure your plants are healthy and not rotting. Adequte light and choosing plants that do well in what looks like is going to be a very low tech tank are going to be a key issue.

HTH.

 

[ICEEGRL]

Thanks!

I am doing low tech for now. These are my learning tanks. I am looking for a large tank for the living room. That one will be set up much better. With these tanks I am trying to learn on a smaller scale so if I mess up it won't be so costly. I have a goal in mind, but I have so much to learn. It may take me a while, but I hope in the end I will have a very nice tank in there. I want to do it right though, so I am going slow, asking questions, and trying things out.

Also both my children are wanting tanks. I am trying to teach them as I learn, and I let them help in the up keep of mine so they can see what it will be like. So far so good... We are learning alot.

Thanks again
Amanda

 

[TammyLiz]

Sounds great! Good luck, and make sure you share your results.

I am a mom and all my tanks are low tech, too.