Help on tank

[SarayParay]

 

So I posted this question on YouTube, but I figured it might go unanswered because of how busy everyone is. So I decided to join and ask it here. 🙂

 

So I have a 20 gallon tank and it's lightly planted. I have had it since late June/early July 2020 and I wish I knew what I know now. Anyways, I want to add some Eco-Complete under my black sand because I only have like an inch deep. I want to heavily plant my tank and it is why I want to add the Eco-Complete. I was trying to find a video or article or something that talks about doing it. I haven't had luck or maybe I'm not looking at the right thing. So has anyone done what I want to do and was it a success or failure?

I guess you could say I want to re-landscape-re-plant my already established aquarium. 

Any advice or suggestions are appreciated! 

Thank you!

I will try attaching a picture of my tank for more help. 🙂 

 

[NoobieFish]

Are you planning on doing a carpet or going high tech?  If not then you may not need fancy substrate. Just add some root tabs for the root feeding plants. It already looks good. 

Otherwise,  I don't think there is a way of getting anything underneath the existing substrate without pulling everything out and restarting. If you do that you might as well go pure eco-complete and not worry about layering. 

[SarayParay]

14 minutes ago, NoobieFish said:

Are you planning on doing a carpet or going high tech?  If not then you may not need fancy substrate. Just add some root tabs for the root feeding plants. It already looks good. 

Otherwise,  I don't think there is a way of getting anything underneath the existing substrate without pulling everything out and restarting. If you do that you might as well go pure eco-complete and not worry about layering. 

I wanted to go with doing a carpet plant in the front. Marsilea quadrifolia. I have no idea what high tech is. 

I have added root tabs under the existing plants even though the plants I have are Vallisneria (the long thick one and the long thin one) and I don't know the name of the one that has grown so much since I got it. lol

[NoobieFish]

High vs low tech generally refers to whether you have CO2 or not. 

Unfortunately, I have never grown Marsilea Quadrifolia so I have no idea what substrate it needs. 

The root tabs seem to be working well!!

 

[Pekitivey]

Ive had a very similar issue. I ended up putting all the fish in a bucket with the heater for like an hour while I tore the tank down and added the substrate and then the gravel on top and rescaping. It was a pain but I am happy how it turned out as I have Sword plants and they seem to be doing better with the enriched substrate underneith.

I also am playing with carpeting plants but I dont inject Co2 so I doubt I will have much success. But they were cheap so I think it is worth a try.

Side note: see how I have the substrate thick at the back and thin at the front? That has made it so much more asthetically pleasing from the front view!

Hope this is infromative and helps some bit!

 

Sorry for the glare!

[SarayParay]

On 9/21/2020 at 7:26 AM, Pekitivey said:

Ive had a very similar issue. I ended up putting all the fish in a bucket with the heater for like an hour while I tore the tank down and added the substrate and then the gravel on top and rescaping. It was a pain but I am happy how it turned out as I have Sword plants and they seem to be doing better with the enriched substrate underneith.

I also am playing with carpeting plants but I dont inject Co2 so I doubt I will have much success. But they were cheap so I think it is worth a try.

Side note: see how I have the substrate thick at the back and thin at the front? That has made it so much more asthetically pleasing from the front view!

Hope this is infromative and helps some bit!

 

Sorry for the glare!

AWESOME! Thank you for sharing your experience with me and for sharing your pictures. This is what I wanted to see. Someone who did this and it came out great! Did your plants die or wilt a bit after moving them? I guess that is my main fear that they will die after moving them. It is what I have been reading online.

Thanks again!!!

On 9/21/2020 at 6:58 AM, NoobieFish said:

High vs low tech generally refers to whether you have CO2 or not. 

Unfortunately, I have never grown Marsilea Quadrifolia so I have no idea what substrate it needs. 

The root tabs seem to be working well!!

 

Oh okay! Thank you for explaining!

From what I have read, it's a super easy to grow carpet plant. It's why I kind of want it since I'm a beginner. hehe. 

Thank you!!!

[Ben Ellison]

The fancy substrate  definitely  helps but it comes with  a few burdens. They all seem to be very cloudy when disturbed so I'd make sure to do all my foreseeable plant placement from step one. Mucking about  in them down the road is a bit of a pain. 

[endless_summer]

So, yes, I've had success carpeting 1/2 of a 20L with dwarf hair grass with eco-complete bottom substrate and 1"+ sand top substrate. Note that over weeks, though, snails (and maybe the kuhli loaches?) turned the substrate enough to cause the sand to fall and the eco-complete to rise.

After about a year I removed the hair grass because I wasn't enjoying the aesthetic and stray trimmings. Since my kuhli loaches prefer sand, as the eco-complete rises to the top I scoop it out and sift the sand from the eco-complete using a repurposed kitchen utensil. Its a pain, really, and I would advise my friends against this substrate combo. 🙃 Next time I move the tank, I plan on separating the substrates out and using them in separate tanks so I'll never have to sift out substrate ever again.

Here are some photos of the substrate in action:

 

[Pekitivey]

5 hours ago, LunarFlower29 said:

AWESOME! Thank you for sharing your experience with me and for sharing your pictures. This is what I wanted to see. Someone who did this and it came out great! Did your plants die or wilt a bit after moving them? I guess that is my main fear that they will die after moving them. It is what I have been reading online.

Thanks again!!!

Yes the swords and the stem plant were not too happy with me! It's taken a few weeks but there seems to be some new growth now which is encouraging. I only used the cheap substrate from my LFS. so it's not branded or anything. Bit swords like to feed from the roots more than most plants and it all seems to be working out now. Best of luck with your endeavours. Please post some pics on this thread so we can see how it works out for you! 

[SarayParay]

16 hours ago, Ben Ellison said:

The fancy substrate  definitely  helps but it comes with  a few burdens. They all seem to be very cloudy when disturbed so I'd make sure to do all my foreseeable plant placement from step one. Mucking about  in them down the road is a bit of a pain. 

Aaah!! Okay, that makes sense. Will definitely be keeping that in mind! Thank you!

 

15 hours ago, R41NB0WF1SH said:

So, yes, I've had success carpeting 1/2 of a 20L with dwarf hair grass with eco-complete bottom substrate and 1"+ sand top substrate. Note that over weeks, though, snails (and maybe the kuhli loaches?) turned the substrate enough to cause the sand to fall and the eco-complete to rise.

After about a year I removed the hair grass because I wasn't enjoying the aesthetic and stray trimmings. Since my kuhli loaches prefer sand, as the eco-complete rises to the top I scoop it out and sift the sand from the eco-complete using a repurposed kitchen utensil. Its a pain, really, and I would advise my friends against this substrate combo. 🙃 Next time I move the tank, I plan on separating the substrates out and using them in separate tanks so I'll never have to sift out substrate ever again.

Here are some photos of the substrate in action:

 

The white flakes are your sand, right? Wow! I had no idea about that. I have black sand. I was thinking of mostly doing the eco substrate in the back corner of the tank and what not. Since I can't find the Dwarf Four Leaf clover grass, I think I might not be able to try the carpet plant.

Thank you for sharing and good luck on your journey! I'd love to see the results so please tag me if you decide to share. 🙂 

12 hours ago, Pekitivey said:

Yes the swords and the stem plant were not too happy with me! It's taken a few weeks but there seems to be some new growth now which is encouraging. I only used the cheap substrate from my LFS. so it's not branded or anything. Bit swords like to feed from the roots more than most plants and it all seems to be working out now. Best of luck with your endeavours. Please post some pics on this thread so we can see how it works out for you! 

Thank you very much! I will definitely be posting pictures once I do it. I will not forget!!! Thank you!

[endless_summer]

37 minutes ago, LunarFlower29 said:

The white flakes are your sand, right?

The sand is black and white (kind of difficult to tell) and the eco-complete is the larger black chunks. In the second photo you can kind of see a "layer" of eco-complete making its way up 😑 with a small layer already at the top and then a solid layer of eco-complete at the bottom. The mixing should't be too much of an issue if you don't have sensitive bottom dwellers-- I saw you wrote you have black sand visually it should be no big deal, especially if you have the eco-complete in its own corner as described.

38 minutes ago, LunarFlower29 said:

Thank you for sharing and good luck on your journey! I'd love to see the results so please tag me if you decide to share. 🙂 

No problem, I didn't expect the eco-complete to rise up either! Something to consider. The dwarf grass area is now just an open area, which the fish like okay, but I'm working on making it a shaded openish area using a dwarf lily plant. And thanks! 💯 If I post a picture of the tank I'll tag you. Good luck finding a carpeting plant you like, likewise I'd love to see an update on your tank. ✌️

[SarayParay]

I did it! Took me several hours... 

I finally found a video on YT that helped me get an idea on what to do. I basically removed half of my tank water and put it in a 30 quart plastic bin. Then I put the decorations and heater and my sponge filters there. Then I put the fish in there. I then added the rest of the water to a bucket and put all my plants there. I had no idea I had that many... LOL Mostly Vallisneria and Elodia Anacharis.

I then pushed my sand to the right and put Eco-Complete substrate on the left of the tank and on the back of the tank. Then I pushed back some of the sand back and evened out as much as I could. The back left corner I piled on Eco substrate because my plants kept floating. I was annoyed because they kept getting out of the dirt whenever I planted another plant.  

This is my tank before. LOL a mess. 

The water is still cloudy and I'm going to be removing a decoration because I don't want it very cluttered. I also left space on the back right of the tank because I ordered more plants and am waiting for them. Different plants too! Once those plants are in I'll be able to finish and see what looks good and what doesn't in regards to decoration. I'm nervous and excited. 🙂 

Any suggestions are appreciated! Thanks!

 

 

Edited September 25, 2020 by LunarFlower29