The best substrate for your bristlenose...

As the title say's lets have a vote on what type of substrate we all use..........

Gravel...but I do use sand for my fry tank.

Ive tried all three and find gravel the easiest to control....
Although sand substrate and bare tank's do have there benefits but they didnt work for me....

so thats 1 vote for gravel for me....

I agree gravel is the easiest to control but in my fry tank I vacuum everyday with a 5%-10% water change. They poo so much it looks like someone threw dirt on the white sand. For me it makes "spot" cleaning a lot easier and uneaten food doesn't drop below the sand.

I have only ever used gravel, wanted to try bare bottom but just gonna keep going with what s been working for me.

I use a sand and fine gravel mix, a. to give the plants a bit more to root in and b. for aesthetics.

Hey Spreebok what kind of mix do you use, 50-50 60-40? Never thought of that before.

Spreebok wrote:

I use a sand and fine gravel mix, a. to give the plants a bit more to root in and b. for aesthetics.

nice thinking....

I'll have to try get a photo for you, I use a net to shake it out so there's a bit of a sprinkling of fine gravel on top with a net, looks great!
@Lunchbox: I'd say about 40-60 to 30-70 in gravel and sand respectively. there's enough fine gravel to make a layer at the bottom and to sprinkle on top of the sand. Plus the sand is great if your a meanie pants like me and don't let your khuli loaches dissapear :P

I say sand but what i use is kinda a mix between sand and bare botom. I throw in about enough sand to cover the bottom of the tank to a depth of about 2~3mm then as water get tipped in and curents push it around bare spots form. I find this is the perfect mix as it allows substrate for the good bacteria to live in but make cleaning such a breeze!

i use gravel coz i have ugf on my tank plus it makes vac alot easier

My tanks have mostly small normal gravel, but I have the peps in a sand bottom..I find the plants struggle a bit in sand, but given plenty of ferts, it will grow on ok..

ive used most sustrates in the past but please be carefull when using sand.
The thing with sand is if the sand is only shallow the fish will turn it over more than enough to avoid any build up of solid waste and any risk of anaerobic dead spots which become deadly over a peiriod of time. this is why i dont use it in my bristlenose tanks. i dont like moving caves that are burried at the back into the sand. ie anarobic dead spots under the cave.
also be carefull on type of sand you are using as most sands will buffer the water to a higher ph than you will want for youre bristlenoses.

also remember if using a bare bottom tank to scrub the bottom every week. before youre weekly water change. the slime that builds up on the bottom will kill youre fish.

deano wrote:

ive used most sustrates in the past but please be carefull when using sand.
The thing with sand is if the sand is only shallow the fish will turn it over more than enough to avoid any build up of solid waste and any risk of anaerobic dead spots which become deadly over a peiriod of time. this is why i dont use it in my bristlenose tanks. i dont like moving caves that are burried at the back into the sand. ie anarobic dead spots under the cave.
also be carefull on type of sand you are using as most sands will buffer the water to a higher ph than you will want for youre bristlenoses.

also remember if using a bare bottom tank to scrub the bottom every week. before youre weekly water change. the slime that builds up on the bottom will kill youre fish.

Hence why Doug's approach is the winner

Quote :

he thing with sand is if the sand is only shallow the fish will turn it over more than enough to avoid any build up of solid waste and any risk of anaerobic dead spots which become deadly over a peiriod of time.

Exactly why I run through the entire thing with a chopstick everyweek, under logs and everything! I use quite a thick bottom (about an 1" to 1 1/2"), hence why I chopstick so extensively. It's thicker as I have plants!

SUSHI!!!!!!!

"anaerobic dead spots which become deadly over a peiriod of time"

oh dear does this mean that the corner of my tank where all the dirty gravel has gathered and I planted a plant, thinking that it would grow in the muck and use it as fertiliser and create a nice little ecosystem, is actually just a poison factory? I hadn't been vacuuming near it incase it disturbed the root system.

And are the worms living in the muck therefore a bad sign, rather than a good one?

I think I have much to learn! :study:

its hard to say if its a poison factory, I guess in its rawest form it is but if its a fast growing plant it will be absorbing lots of the nutrients and the worms are helping too. The worms that you are seeing are most likely blackworms or similar and are good food for any chiclids if you have any.

I would however, try to vaccy up as much of the crud as i could if its in a breeding tank as it can cause issues. I would move the plant and leave the corner bare so its easy to vacuum

Hmm, not a very fast growing plant, everything seems to eat it as soon it it starts to sprout, so it's mostly stems

When I set up the tank I thought about lots of hiding places and interest, so it's full of big stones, bogwood, teracotta pots and a big moss ball, so there's very little of the floor I can actually get to for cleaning. Maybe I need to clear some of the bits and pieces out. :roll:

Take it out, thats what i do

hmm, maybe I need to be a bit more ruthless. I like to give everything the chance to survive, even if it's not looking the greatest. Hence the worm tank!

so is it not a good idea to use bare bottom for trying to breed?

use the search function to look for threads talking about bare bottom tanks and breeding. It has been discussed many times and quite well I might add, wouldnt do it justice to try and sum it up here

[quote]Exactly why I run through the entire thing with a chopstick everyweek, under logs and everything! Smile I use quite a thick bottom (about an 1" to 1 1/2"), hence why I chopstick so extensively. It's thicker as I have plants![/quote


That's what I do with a chopstick or skewer, been running for over two years n never lost a fish in that tank..although it sprung a leak last week and is out the back empty now ...

I have moved onto the plant substrate, Seachem Flourite Black, it's awesome...

This has turned into quite an interesting and informative thread, I didn't realise that nasties could build up in the gravel etc..



Luckily I give the bottom a fairly good going over when I do my weekly water change so hopefully there is not to much build up in my tanks.

I use gravel in both in my main tank I use gravel that is roughly about 5mm diameter and in my fry tank I use finer gravel that probably is only 2-3mm in size.

I know that from now on i will ensure i give the bottom a good "rummage" through with the vacumm when doing the changes from now on.



Cheers

Jon