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Substrate for new tank?


Southerrrngirrl

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Well in the weekend I visited my LFS to get cat food, ended up walking out with a new tank. An AR620, 90 litres, (62wx38Dx53 H cm) I really really want some kuhli loaches in this one, so was thinking about putting in a sand substrate/fine gravel for them, I also want some Honey Gourami's.

However, my LFS doesn't appear to sell much other than the tacky brightly coloured gravel, so I'm wondering where I would get suitable sand/fine gravel from? Anyone recommend an online shop? I also want to plant the tank, will plants grow ok in the sand?

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If your planting it then I'd suggest Daltons Aquatic Mix (Mitre10/Bunnings, $9.99 per 10kg) and Daltons Propergating Sand. It's a real common mix and once the aquatic mix has saturated (takes a couple of days sometimes) it'll be easily managable and you'll find the plant growth amazing.

For my sand tanks I just use builders mix, and wash it like crazy to get all the sand that is too fine out, something like $5 a 10kg bag, but propergating sand will be a lot better and wont clamp up as easily. You wont need 10kg of anything, but often thats the only size, so you'll have spare for the next tank ;)

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We don't have a Bunnings here so thats not an option.. plenty of garden centres though. Thats what I want, amazing plant growth! What does Daltons Aquatic Mix look like? Is this the stuff that has the fertilizers etc in it? And whats propogating sand? Do I use both of these??

Next tank! :o I think 2's enough! :lol:

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Put the aquatic stuff down on the bottom of the tank. Then put the progating sand on top of that. The sand is there to help stop the aquatic stuff mixing with the water. Also when filling your tank with water, be sure to put a plate or something to take the impact of the water hitting the bottom. This is to help stop stirring up the aquatic stuff and making the water cloudy.

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Yep, already read about the plate thing in another post, Jayci! :)

Thats what I was thinking and was just coming to post that bdspider!

However, I was wondering if I'd be able to say, put a layer of gravel between the aquatic mix and the top sand layer in an attempt to stop them burrowing so far down? Although then I could end up with half a tank full of substrate?

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no ugf with sand..... lady-lene since your in the waikato best place to get sand is the pool/filter shop in hams by lollipops its only $20 for a big bag and you dont need to clean it just put it straight in as its been cleaned ive used it for years with no problems..... hope this helps

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ARe you Kidding!! :o Dont worry MTS will get to you eventually

You know I actually own 4 tanks now.. only 1 is operational at the moment. 2 are only AR380's so way too small for me now. Maybe good for quarantine tank perhaps?? So I think MTS has got to me already :lol:

Back on to the topic, I'm thinking I might flag the idea of aquatic mix, because I'm worried the loaches will burrow down into it. So instead of having a lovely planted tank, i'm thinking I might make it more rocky, from what I read kuhlis also love to hide in rock caves. The only plant I would put in is one from my AR850, i don't know what it is, (grows tall, has broad leaves) but it grows damn well in there and that tank just has a gravel substrate, no aquatic mix or anything.

Whats the best colour substrate to go with - light or dark??

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certain fish will benefit from dark substrates as they will attempt to darken to blend in which really brings out their markings. really brightly coloured fish also look great against the dark substrate. it can also be a nice contrast against bright green plants.

light gravel will do the same, certain species will lighten which is sometimes desirable (ie discus), sometimes not (tiger oscars).

ive got both, light sand and dark gravel in my tanks that have substrate and they both work a charm for the setup i have :)

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Ahh, well thats good to know. I've gone for a dark coloured fine gravel I managed to find at the LFS, they don't normally have it on display in the shop so thats why I didn't see it before.

We did take a trip down to the river last night and got a bucket full of dark coloured sand, which we trialled in one of the AR380s but it clouded the water really badly and this morning it had cleared a bit but i disturbed the sand and it clouded the water again so I don't think it would have been a wise idea to go with that. They tell me at the LFS that the gravel I bought was cleaned and stuff so, all I have to do is swish it in a bucket of water a couple of times.

Got some plants and some fertiliser balls too so I'm all set to begin the set up process!

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OMG Caryl, you were so right. The gravel I got for the new tank, I liked so much that I wanted to replace the existing gravel in my other tank. So we pulled the tank apart, and replaced the gravel. Planted a few algae free plants and put the fish back in.. wow! Their colours are so much more vibrant now, especially the cardinals and glowlights. It was a mission, took about 4 hours from start to finish but it was so worth it. :D

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Hi

I to like Kuhli loaches and have about 12 in my tank. I use Daltons aquatic mix about 1 and 1/2 inches and Daltons propagating sand 1 and 1/2 inches again (purchased from the warehouse and washed before use) because the tank is planted my loaches think they are hiding under the plants so they are always out and about. My plants also grow well.

Neill

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