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Hello everyone,<br><br>I have a 30 gal tank with koi, gold & perl danios ( 2 each).<br>I used white pebbles from riverbed, making a 1 inch substrate & 8-10 medium sized plants.<br><br>My problem is that the white pebbles are not keeping the plants well rooted, however the plants seem to grow very well. Recently small spots of brown algae has started showing up on the pebbles and looks really bad . I am planning to shift to a new place and I would like to redo the tank a bit .I am also thinking of a undergravel filter.<br>So please sugest a good substrate.<br><br>bharat

What type of filter are you using now?
For the most part plants don't like under gravel filters because it interfears with the roots...additionally under gravel filters require careful maintence in order to keep them from causing problems later...in general not the best filters out there on the market.

How big are the pebbles that you're using. Normally a smaller sized gravel will allow the plants to remain rooted in the substrate better....however too small (like sand) and it will often end up crushing the roots.

As for the brown spots of algae. That's fairly common in a new tank. Often it's due to excess sillicates and phosphate from over feeding. You can try reducing the ammount of food, increase water changes, or purchase a phosphate remover (often found in the Salt water section) for the filter.
HTH a bit .

^_^
*Proud member of the Committee for Sig Line Restoration*[/font]

Hi,
If your goal is a well planted tank then I would suggest
100% flourite. Other substrates for a planted tank could
be Onyx, or Laterite.

Here are a couple of sites that you should read:

http://home.infinet.net/teban/substrat.htm
http://www.plantedtank.net/substratecalculator.html
http://home.infinet.net/teban/jamie.htm

Have fun!

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Hi,

I am using RESON 330 internal filter(chinees make) with activated carbon. I recently removed activated carbon as it is 45 days old.

I guess I will drop the idea of undergravel filter. I dont want to compromise on real plants!
The pebbles are about 0.5 to 1 inch in diameter.
I think I will go for Flourite . Black colour will look good against the green plants. 10-15 kg will enough for 90cm x 12 cm base.??

thanks for the advice and web links!!

hav a nice day

Bharat

Hi,
Using substrate of that grain size will leave huge gaps
for fish waste, uneaten food, and decaying plant matter
to fall into and rot. Using substrate of that grain
size will not allow the plants to anchor themselves,
by allowing too much space between the roots and the
gravel.

The normal, recomended size is .2 to .3mm.
If you like pebbles, you can sprinkle a FEW scattered
about the surface, but not to cover the surface.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

I have a 32g tank. I did flourite 75% and regular black pebbles mixed. I did about a 3 inch base and found that my plants have a very helthy root system. I would stop using the carbon filter, cause the plants do the same job it does. So in truth you are kind of starving your plants and wasting money. I use liquid fertlizer, and CO2 every second month to help with plant growth.

Hope this helps

Robert

I just started using sand in my 10 gallon. the reason i switched is so my rams im getting soon will be able to dig. anyway, I find the initial planting much easier in sand and it holds them in place much better than anything, probably not the best thing for the plants roots though and nutrient wise it doesnt help, but the tank i put it in is pretty sparsley planted anyway.

so if you're one of those folks who is more concerned with plant health than with fish health (haha) then you probably want flourite.... but if its not tons and tons of plants then i'd say sand is quite nice