Substrate

[Gabriel Blanc]

Sup, I have a 100 liter fully planted but the substrate is manado, a neutral substrate and the plants do not feel that well after a year. I was thinking about changing the substrate but the thing is that I already have a established population of fish. So which substrate should I go for? I tried to dodge the nitrate rise of a nutrient rich substrate. Thanksss

[colo3000]

I personally use Seachem Flourite in my aquarium which is just a clay substrate that is good at absorbing nutrients without changing water parameters. Before going as far as to entirely switch out the substrate on an established planted tank, you may want to see if any other factor could be to blame for subpar plant growth. There are a number of factors that could be affecting your plants which include whether or not you fertilize the tank, your tank's lighting, the type of plants you have in the tank and how they are planted in your aquarium (some plants do better anchored to rocks and driftwood than planted into the substrate), as well as probably many other factors that I'm not too well educated in. Bottom line is I would address these possible other variables before having to go through replacing your substrate.

-Brayden

[Colu]

Have you been adding root tabs to your substrate

Edited August 22, 2021 by Colu

[Gabriel Blanc]

Nah bcz I live in France but I tried jbl and tetra one but it's expensive and not very efficient in long term

[Gabriel Blanc]

Yeah I kinda tried everything but my plants are really lacking in iron and magnesium, I tried root tabs but it's expensive and too concentrated in one stop. I also wanna change my scape... 

 

[BenA]

On 8/22/2021 at 5:09 PM, Gabriel Blanc said:

Nah bcz I live in France but I tried jbl and tetra one but it's expensive and not very efficient in long term

Did you try this? Should be sufficient for 1 year.

JBL The 7 + 13 Balls, Root fertiliser for freshwater aquariums (20 fertiliser balls) : Amazon.co.uk