What is the best substrate for a beginner

"Dan Drake" wrote in
news:vhIsdqY67dTD-pn2-4tZMfVbxteyh@localhost:

A lot of people talk of _hair_ algae, specifically, being promoted by
high Fe concentration. I wonder if there's something to that. (But
what does it matter? If people are adding iron in order to grow
plants, they surely have algae-eating fish, and they'll never see hair
algae. If they don't have algae eaters, it's hopeless anyway.)

I have seen this in action.

One of my eels (a yellow-tailed spiny eel) dug up a laterite ball
inadvertently. I only noticed because hair algae came in like mad, fast
enough that I could see lots of stubble despite the two large and
industrious SAEs in the tank. When I buried the laterite again, the hair
algae ebbed.

~Empty
--
'You're not friends. You'll never be friends. You'll be in love till it
kills you both. You'll fight, and you'll shag, and you'll hate each other
till it makes you quiver, but you'll never be friends. Love isn't brains,
children, it's blood... blood screaming inside you to work its will. I may
be love's bitch, but at least I'm man enough to admit it.'
Spike

Empty wrote in message . ..
"Dan Drake" wrote in
news:vhIsdqY67dTD-pn2-4tZMfVbxteyh@localhost:

A lot of people talk of _hair_ algae, specifically, being promoted by
high Fe concentration. I wonder if there's something to that. (But
what does it matter? If people are adding iron in order to grow
plants, they surely have algae-eating fish, and they'll never see hair
algae. If they don't have algae eaters, it's hopeless anyway.)

I have seen this in action.

One of my eels (a yellow-tailed spiny eel) dug up a laterite ball
inadvertently. I only noticed because hair algae came in like mad, fast
enough that I could see lots of stubble despite the two large and
industrious SAEs in the tank. When I buried the laterite again, the hair
algae ebbed.

~Empty


Well, pulling up substrate pulls up much more than simply iron.
Pulls up NH4/lowers the O2 levels in a tank, there are many things
this does beside pull up iron.
That's why focusing on the water column and the effects these
nutrients have on it allows for a much clearer picture of what's
really going on with algae.

After all, algae do not have roots so if it's happening in the water
column, you should be able to isolate it.

Then you can use this same approach to consider the relative efeects
of a substrate on plant health if you have mastered the water column.

Regards,
Tom Barr

(Giancarlo Podio) wrote in message om...
I find it hard to understand all the fuss about Flourite and the dust
it creates. Have we all lost our patience? Sure it creates some dust
but it clears up in a day or two. I would have thought that color or
growth quality would be the biggest reason why one would choose
between the two. In my case the color is the only reason why I'm not
using it, I prefer the more natural look of Flourite myself.
Eco-complete seems to have many trace elements that Flourite doesn't
have, I can see the benefit there as you won't need to add them
yourself, obviously time will tell how long these elements will be
available for, plus once the Flourite substrate has matured, chances
are it will provide many of these elements too. But unless you plan on
building sand castles in your tank, I think the dust factor of
Flourite shouldn't be made into such a big deal. Messing around with
any substrate will cause problems, and it's not the dust you need to
worry about. If we're talking about best substrate for beginners, then
perhaps the fact that eco-complete already contains some nutrients may
give it the advantage, but I don't think it will make or break a tank,
if you are successful with eco-complete I'm sure you would be just as
successful with Flourite.

Giancarlo Podio


I'bve never had any issues in a number of years with flourite "dust"
or clarity. But I use a slow fill method with a bucket so that no
gravel is disturbed when filling. I rinse 3 x with a bucket and add
it.

I think there may be something to the flourite scracthing the soft
acrylic vs Eco complete, but heck,snails if they get caught in the
scrub pad when wiping the glass/acrylic will cause as much if not
more.

It also depends on the depth of the gravel if it's below the viewing
line(if the gravel is sloped down to the viewable edge in the front.

I simply pull the gravel back, then clean that region. If you use
something like a Kent pro scaper, you have less chance of scraping
ALSO.

Regards,
Tom Barr

) wrote in
om:

Well, pulling up substrate pulls up much more than simply iron.

Yes, I'm aware of this. The fish in question is constantly churning the
substrate, though, and I never had a single problem until he dug up a ball
of laterite.

~Empty


--
'You're not friends. You'll never be friends. You'll be in love till it
kills you both. You'll fight, and you'll shag, and you'll hate each other
till it makes you quiver, but you'll never be friends. Love isn't brains,
children, it's blood... blood screaming inside you to work its will. I may
be love's bitch, but at least I'm man enough to admit it.'
Spike

I do not like the notion that the plant base and the ecological integrity of that claim that you do not need to use their products carbon dioxide. I can say the same about any substrate, but they said you will have like a great tank, if you only need to add carbon dioxide to use the product is not correct.