Substrate questions, need answers asap

[apleiadean42]

Is it true that plants grow/establish roots better in courser sand than finer sand? Does it matter? Also, if I have sand from another aquarium I acquired and am not using, can I rinse the sand clean with tap water and use it in a tank if I dechlorinate the water I put in it or do I need to use de chlorinated water to rinse it?  I have a small planted tank with a betta and 2 snails that I am starting over with a different substrate than just the larger pebbles I’ve had. I’m going to use a bio soil -fluval bio stratum. Is that made for a substrate alone or to add some of that sand in, too. I won’t if it’s too fine and compact for plant growth, though. Thank y’all! 

[Tony s]

On 8/18/2024 at 9:56 AM, apleiadean42 said:

Is it true that plants grow/establish roots better in courser sand than finer sand

It actually is true. And often grow better in fine gravel than sand. The finer the substrate, the lower number of pore spaces and less places for roots to travel in. In nature you won’t usually find plants growing in pure sand. But in sand over soil or mixed in. For an active soil like stratum, I’d give it a light rinse in regular water. Don’t worry about a small amount of chlorine left in the stratum, when you fill with water, dechorinate that and you’ll be fine. Something like the stratum is designed for plant growth, so it has a different set of rules than normal sand 

[Mmiller2001]

1 to 3mm diameter grain size is ideal. 2mm would be perfect. 
 

Here is my old tank in 1mm to 2mm pool filter sand.

[apleiadean42]

gorgeous tank! I aspire to grow one this beautiful some day! Thanks for the recommendation. 

 

 

On 8/18/2024 at 9:13 AM, Tony s said:

Thank you. Very helpful.

 

On 8/18/2024 at 9:13 AM, Tony s said:

Thank you. Very helpful.

guys, i don't know how to use this comment section well yet. The quote options confuse me. How do i simply reply? 

[Lennie]

aquasoils release ammonia to the water column a lot, based on the brand it can be less or more.

Make sure your keep water parameters under control before moving your fish/snails to your new tank if you will use aquasoil

Edited August 18 by Lennie

[apleiadean42]

On 8/18/2024 at 9:52 AM, Lennie said:

aquasoils release ammonia to the water column a lot, based on the brand it can be less or more.

Make sure your keep water parameters under control before moving your fish/snails to your new tank if you will use aquasoil

Is aquasoil the same thing as Fluval's Bio-Stratum? 

[apleiadean42]

Having the active beneficial microbials incorporated into the bio-stratum (fluval - which is what i bought) may help prevent that from happening?  could i also add a water conditioner that eliminates ammonia, like API quick start? would those solve the ammonia release problem? 

Edited August 18 by apleiadean42

[apleiadean42]

i'm needing to put my betta and snails back in the new tank tonight as i'm having surgery tomorrow and will be out of commission for at least a few days. The cloudy water issue with the hair like algae just popped up. very bad timing. perhaps i should just wait and do the new substrate next week. just do a majority water change for now.  What do y'all think?

[Tony s]

I wouldn’t rush it. If you have the time to wait. Go ahead and wait. Mistakes happen when we rush things. At least they do when I rush things. 

[Tony s]

And for replying or tagging other people. You can @ them. Just type at and the beginning of their names and it should come up. This will send out a notice to them. For a general reply, you can highlight what they say and a little quote box should pop up underneath. The at took me forever to figure out. Until I was going to ask guppysnail how to do it. It popped up, and , I’m like, you have got to be kidding me  🙃