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i still have one of those black plastic pots on my pygmy chain swordplant for about a month now and i am seeing a lot of roots growing and was wondering what else should i put it in. like what type of sustate should i keep it in.

The best type of substrate to keep live plants in is one that is made of porous clay with iron. Seachem has a substrate out there called Flourite. It comes in red or grey.

Guppy Girl,

the Pygmy chain sword is a plant that requires an open
saubstrate, it does not belong in a pot a few reasons.
The most important of these is that the pygmy chain sword
spreads through runner in the gravel, new plants emerging
from this making a chain of plants(hance the name). In a
pot these plants are root bound and cannot spread,
eventually the plant would strangle itself. I am just
giving you this information for future reference.

pea sized gravel is a common substrate in aquariums, and is
suitable for plants so long as you provide substrate
fertilization(root tabs). On the other handd, there are
many substrates out there that are specifically sold and
made for planted aquaria. To name a few there is Seachem's
Onyx sand, and the black or red flourite, there is
florabase, and eco-complete.There are others out there but
the one's I mentioned are the well-known, and are more readily accesible.

Each of these has it's benefits and disadvantages. Onyx
sand has buffering capability that may raise your pH, but
it comes in handy for pressurized CO2 tank, as it prevents
dramatic and sometimes deadly pH changes(this is not normal
if you take good care of the tank, and plan out and track
your water paraeters after getting compressed CO2).
Flourite's main issue is that it is very dusty, and will
initially cloud the water, also if you are doing
maintenance and move plants around, some murkiness will
occur. Eco-complete's only disadvantage that I am aware of
is that it has a tendency to get a brush like algae, and
also that it is sold wet(meaning you get less than 20lbs of
gravel). Also I have heard of eco-complete decomposing in
water, or something of the like. Other correct me if I am
wrong.

HTH,
Megil.

Last edited by Megil Tel'Zeke at 03-Nov-2005 15:30

I vote to try Flourite. I started my 40 Gal. planted tank with it and things really started taking off. That is even before I put my super light on the tank.

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