substrate

[braincandie]

ok, so im saving up for a 150g brick, and im wanting to completely redo one of my aquariums. in redoing it, im wanting to try an actually substrate other then just rocks or river pebbles. i see that some of you have what looks like a mixture of some sort of sand, i dont know, what you to use. my thought behind this is to experiment with it on my 55g or 65g until i have it just the way i want. any suggestions??


also on a side note, does anyone have issues with driftwood after a month turning you water lite brown, i was under the impression that after the wood had soaked and several water changes the wood would stop that.. but even after the water changes the wood still seems to turn the water lite brown. someone once told me that a couple of pleco's would take care of that, but this a piranha setup so thats kinda out the door, any suggestions... =]

[angel]

We use pool sand. It's cheap. It's heavy enough to not watch it go out the python in gobs.
I was at the Critter and they did say the wood will always stain the water. I had thought they said that was bogwood though, which is soaked in salt water or found in salty water. There's fake wood that looks real . The piranhas wouldn't know the difference I'd think.

[braincandie]

i know, but i have two REALLY nice pieces in there tank and it really sets the whole tank off and far as how it looks

[allierw]

After we soaked our wood, it stopped leaching tannins. It may be the type of wood. I think we use Malaysian driftwood. A soft wood might leach more, it might be worth researching.

We use pavers sand and pool filter sand. Both really cheap at Home Depot and Lowes.

[titansfever83]

Once again, PFS, pool filter sand. I just picked up 150lbs for $21. Sand at Petsmart will cost you like $25 for around 25lbs and their sand is VERY fine which will likely damage your filters if your intake is placed too close to the substrate.

Carib Sea inc. has some really nice and different looking substrate. I think they have a website. I really can't remember where I got mine, might have been the Critter or Petsmart.


Like Allie said, depends what type of wood you got. My Manzanita wood leached for several months in the tank, even after soaking for more than a month in a barrel outside.

[jgentry]

I recommend pool filter sand as well. If you want something other then white I would recommend colorquartz sand.

As for the wood it will stop leaching out tannins in time. Sometimes they will stain the water for over 6 months but usually not much longer. Don't worry about it though, your fish are SA from blackwater habitats with acidic water and they prefer it that way.

[razer27]

don't worry about the leaching piranha love black water i mounted a black light behind my tank and they go crazy when its on not shy at all hard to believe there the same fish

[braincandie]

i might have to try that, because the tend to stay in the same spot at all times unless there feeding, they dont like when i have the light on for some reason, they wont eat if its on, or if im watching... weird i know.

[razer27]

a piranhas eyes cant dilate. its pupils are always large being a blackwater fish so it is very sensitive to light i tried lights on my tank b/c i wanted live plants but my fish got stressed and started to hide all the time

[braincandie]

well that explains everything. thanks =]

[samuelskelly]

i have some crushed coral i wanted to use in my angelfish tank. Will this be good or bad cause its suppose to raise ph. I know that angels like a lower ph level

[angel]

That would be bad. Sand or gravel would be better.

[samuelskelly]

my freind had given me two 40lb bags of it for piece of coral. Im having trouble finding some pool filter sand Lowes and the pool man don't have any. I might just use flourite what you think about that?

[angel]

I believe flourite is ok. Jeremy? You were talking about flourite earlier. How does it affect Ph? I know it's good for plants.
Our pool store has the sand. Have you tried Home Depot? I think they have it too.

[allierw]

I use a flourite substrate in one of my planted tanks and I think it has lowered the pH. My angels and cories do fine in that tank. My HD has a better sand selection than Lowe's, I'd definitely try there.