Flourite/Laterite

[John Allen]

Which is best to use ?

Flourite alone.

Gravel mixed with laterite.

240 litre aquarium. Plants only at present with CO2 injection.

Thanks

[Limnophile]

"John Allen" > wrote in message
...
> Which is best to use ?
>
> Flourite alone.
>
> Gravel mixed with laterite.
>
> 240 litre aquarium. Plants only at present with CO2 injection.
>
> Thanks
>
There are many opionions on this, but a mix of 3/4 gravel and 1/4 laterite
has worked well for me.

Limnophile

[Frank]

John Allen wrote,
>Which is best to use ?
>Flourite alone.
>Gravel mixed with laterite.....

When it comes to plants, I'm not the one to be given an answer, but
since no one else is, I'll pitch in my 2 cents. I have two 90gal.
planted tanks that now look great since I'm not the one that takes care
of the plants. After I really had a mess going on, a friend came over
and fixed everything. First thing she did was to remove the RFunder
gravel filter plates and added about 1.5 to 2"s of Flourite, which she
then covered with about the same amount of gravel/sand mix and planted.
CO2 ran for a little over two months and was then removed. Plants still
look great but grow a lot more slowly since the CO2 has been removed.
The amount of lighting has also been lowered.................... Frank

[Mister Gardener]

On 1 May 2006 01:12:29 -0700, "Frank" > wrote:

>John Allen wrote,
>>Which is best to use ?
>>Flourite alone.
>>Gravel mixed with laterite.....
>
>When it comes to plants, I'm not the one to be given an answer, but
>since no one else is, I'll pitch in my 2 cents. I have two 90gal.
>planted tanks that now look great since I'm not the one that takes care
>of the plants. After I really had a mess going on, a friend came over
>and fixed everything. First thing she did was to remove the RFunder
>gravel filter plates and added about 1.5 to 2"s of Flourite, which she
>then covered with about the same amount of gravel/sand mix and planted.
>CO2 ran for a little over two months and was then removed. Plants still
>look great but grow a lot more slowly since the CO2 has been removed.
>The amount of lighting has also been lowered.................... Frank

Since Frank has boldly described his experience, I will add mine. I'm
presently having great results with a half inch of laterite covered
with an inch of laterite/grave mixed covered by 1-4 inches of gravel.
I feed well, including Flourish Excel. I have, in the past, used poor
person's laterite, pure clay cat litter, you have to look to find it,
it's the cheapest and has no perfumes, sanitizers, clumpers, etc. Just
plain clay. I've had good growth with the poor person's stuff, that
was before I had stronger lighting and better fertilizers. I would be
hard pressed to say that laterite is better than kitty litter.

-- Mister Gardener
-- Pull the WEED to email me

[Altum]

John Allen wrote:
> Which is best to use ?
>
> Flourite alone.
>
> Gravel mixed with laterite.
>
> 240 litre aquarium. Plants only at present with CO2 injection.
>
> Thanks

I didn't answer because my Flourite tanks have only been up for a little
over a year. Plants are growing very well and tending to runner and
spread more than with gravel/laterite.

I did a tank with powdered laterite mixed into the bottom half of the
gravel many years ago. Swords and crypts did beautifully for many years.

Flourite is a pain to rinse and if I set up a larger tank I would
probably go with something easier like laterite/gravel or Eco Complete.

--
Put the word aquaria in the subject to email me.
Did you read the FAQ? http://faq.thekrib.com

[Mister Gardener]

On Mon, 01 May 2006 18:31:25 GMT, Altum >
wrote:

>John Allen wrote:
>> Which is best to use ?
>>
>> Flourite alone.
>>
>> Gravel mixed with laterite.
>>
>> 240 litre aquarium. Plants only at present with CO2 injection.
>>
>> Thanks
>
>I didn't answer because my Flourite tanks have only been up for a little
>over a year. Plants are growing very well and tending to runner and
>spread more than with gravel/laterite.
>
>I did a tank with powdered laterite mixed into the bottom half of the
>gravel many years ago. Swords and crypts did beautifully for many years.
>
>Flourite is a pain to rinse and if I set up a larger tank I would
>probably go with something easier like laterite/gravel or Eco Complete.

I forgot to mention something you just did, I am getting plantlets on
runners from my swordplants, crypts, and grasses like I've never seen
before. Laterite/gravel. I'm anchoring the sword plantlets and they
are digging right in and establishing themselves. Keep up like this
I'm going to have swords to sell to my lfs.

-- Mister Gardener
-- Pull the WEED to email me

[Mister Gardener]

On Mon, 01 May 2006 16:44:35 -0400, Mister Gardener
> wrote:

>On Mon, 01 May 2006 18:31:25 GMT, Altum >
>wrote:
>
>>John Allen wrote:
>>> Which is best to use ?
>>>
>>> Flourite alone.
>>>
>>> Gravel mixed with laterite.
>>>
>>> 240 litre aquarium. Plants only at present with CO2 injection.

Note, there is more than one Koi Lo in the Aquaria groups, but only
one Mister Gardener.

Check out:
http://www.floridadriftwood.com/aquarium_plant_laterite_vs_flourite.htm
if you haven't already.
-- Mister Gardener
-- Pull the WEED to email me

[Koi-Lo]

*Note: There are TWO "Koi-Lo's" on this NG*

"Mister Gardener" > wrote in message
...
> Note, there is more than one Koi Lo in the Aquaria groups, but only
> one Mister Gardener.
================

LOL!!! :-D So far........
--
Koi-Lo....
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Aquariums since 1952.
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