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I am new to this hobby and have my 75g rdy for the landscaping. I am looking to add flourite and then gravel on top of that. I would like 2 inches of each I guess. Is 30 pounds of flourite enough? How many pounds of mid sized to small gravel should I purchase? My centerpiece fish are going to be Bala Sharks I think.

Thanks for any advice you may be able to share!!
Brian

I do mean aquascaping.

Brian:
Flourite is all you need. You don't need anything over it. You can use 100% flourite as substrate. It does not cloud the water. Perhaps you are confusing flourite with laterite?
(edit: Did not answer all your questions)
Gravel depth is kind of dependant on what plants you plan to grow. Plants like Echnindorus and Cryptocoryne have extensive root growth, so a nice deep substrate would be best for them.
A good average-average depth would be around 3 inches. Coverage is generally around 5 lbs per 10 gallons (which is a -big- generality), so about 40 or so lbs would suffice.
Good luck with the tank and have fun!
-Wayne

Last edited by wayneta at 15-Oct-2004 16:47

Thanks Wayne, I think I will buy three bags of flourite then. That would be 45 lbs worth. I am going to go with the novice easy plants for now. I may be moving next spring and want to keep the tank fairly simple. Can you reuse the flourite? Say I move next spring and have to setup the tank again is it reuseable?

Where is the cool rock decor on the web that's affordable? Back ground I think I"m going with some black or dark blue poster board maybe. What else is low cost that would work good? A good background site with cools scenes would be great if there is one out there. Anyway... Thanks! Any tank setup todos that would be cool or cater toward Balas. Like what plants would be good for them?

Last edited by Aquanator101 at 15-Oct-2004 17:59

I ended up going with Shultz's Aquatic Plant Soil at Home Depot. Cheaper when I was on tight budget. It looks GREAT, water seems fine, plants doing GREAT... Love the stuff so far but hope I am not missing why this stuff wasn't mentioned more when I was asking around. Someone did and so far I am glad they did..... Anybody else have experience with this substate?

You will want to mix it with some heavier sand, 2-3 mm sie and hopefull close to the same color as the SAPS.
This will make planting and replanting easier.
It will last forever.

What you will want to do is look around at the tanks on the web, see AGA and and ADA contest winners etc this will give you ideas.

There is a huge amount of diversity in this aquascaping. I would suggest keeping the plant species to 10-12 for now and then rotate a plant out of the tank every few months and try something new. Too many plants at once will detract from the tank and not allow you to get to know each plants well.

Rocks are fun to use, most landscaping places are good to go look for some. Take you tike and position things and reposition things till they look good and feel right to you. This will take some time but can be fun.
I do not like to suggest to someone to do a particular method here. That's up to you.

Get wood/rock and plenty of extra to play with. Lopts of gravel also will help design a tank to avoid flat tank syndrome.



Regards,
Tom Barr

Thanks Tom, it's too late for the Sand and I only used about and only have about 2 to 3 inches of SAPS in the new 75g. The plants have stuck in the soil pretty well and are doing good. I could see how a little sand at the bottom would help. I thought it was very easy to setup not having to rince it like I would of with the sand. I have rocks and stuff and it's look good. The rocks are some rocks I picked up at Broken Bow Lake in OK. They are VERY cool if anybody ever has the chance to go there. Very happy with the tank overall. My Bala Sharks are having a little issue but seems like I have whatever it is turned around.

rember most times then not. its the lighting that will make or brake your tank. whats your lighting right now. whats the depth of the tank, what types of bulb and kelvin temp.

I bought the 75g tank, stand, hood, and lights all in one and don't have the paperwork for the hood or bulbs... I know from inspecting them, their the 48" flourescent bulbs. When I asked at the LFS he said they was the "normal" 48" flourecents that are always used which was a lack of help and info if you ask me. I do know they are (2) Rapid-Start 32w bulbs in a 40w hood. ?? The Water is about 22" deep. I know the 1 watt per gallon rule and I'm little under that it looks like. I can tell I could probably use a little more light fer one of my plants but the rest look ok... I not striving for rapid plant growth. Just healthy plants. I my bust out on another hood and couple bulbs when I can after Christmas. I do want some grass looking vegetation in there? Any recommendations on a species and light requirements?
I may have to tear down the tank and move next year so this would be on the next setup... grass would be hard to resetup after move I would think....

I would attach a pick but not a Premium Member... I thinks a pretty cool take for a newbie...

The lights sound like they are T8s, which are 1" in diameter, and use less electricity than the T12s, which are 1.5" wide, and use 40 watts. Rapid start most likely means electronic ballast, which uses less energy and lasts longer than the older ballasts. So far, so good. Eventually, it would be great to upgrade intensity of lighting to 2-3 watts per gallon (check out http://www.ahsupply.com for do it yourself kits and upgrades). For now, don't use ferts, and start with low light plants, such as Anubias, Java fern, Java moss, Bolbitis, Crypts, and Algae balls. You could also float some Water Sprite to soak up nitrates if algae starts to set in. If you buy new bulbs at some point, try to get ones that have a color temp of about 6500 or 6700K. Good growing to you!

Thanks, thats good info. I am starting to think my substrate is not deep enough also. Will all the plants you mentioned be ok in 2 and up to 3 inches of SAPS? My light plans I think are going to be to more ballest of the same for a total of six bulbs. that would all set on the glass canopy perfectly.

The plants I listed are all hardy, easy ones that will grow in 'low light' conditions of less than 2 watts per gallon. When you step up the light intensity, you'll have more plants that will work, and in fact you'll probably need to add some faster growing plants (like the watersprite) to compete with algae growth. The Aquatic Plant Soil will be fine; many recommend Flourite or Laterite because it contains iron. The clay that you are using has a high cat-ion exchange rate (CEC), which means it will hold nutrients which will benefit plant growth. BTW, Schultz's Clay Conditioner is basically the same material as the Aquatic Soil, as is Turface, a product used on baseball infields (the texture may be different, however). Once you step up the lighting, you may want to look at CO2 systems, and eventually add ferts. But one step at a time! I'm still somewhat limited in my experience, and welcome any corrections by some of the experts that participate here. Continue to read the threads in this forum; there's a lot of good information at your fingertips!

Last edited by joe fishy at 09-Dec-2004 08:52