clouding water!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[waynermills]

hi all,i have a planted tank with red sea flora base,i also have an army of fish who love stirring it up,i placed a layer of small slate on the top,this worked fine for a while but over time it gets moved around and the areas that are exposed get stirred up again,so im thinkin of ditching it for something else that doesnt cloud water as easely.is it possible to grow healthy plants without flora base or simular?ie would plants grow ok in grit or small stone or somthing a little heaveyer than sand providing i dose regularly?and would the plants still root into it? i like darker coloured substrates!i have tryed sand before before i started using fertilizers and co2,but the plants uproot far too quickly.i also dont want to get involved in layers of substrate if i can help it. any advice or ideas will be gladly taken,
thanks

i have 750l
dose ei methods
pressurised co2 30ppm
10hrs light
12500lph korelia magnum 8 very very powerful a little oTT
2000lph canester filter
and few large fish and a two 14'' fire eels

 

[nry]

Fish that size are going to be a problem with most substrates, as they'll all kick up dust/muck when disturbed.

Not sure what to suggest beyond a much larger substrate and perhaps confining plants to some rock covered pots?

 

[ceg4048]

Wanye,
If you're dosing EI then you can use sand, pea gravel or any non-clouding substrate you see sitting on the shelf in your LFS. If you like darker colors you can even use activated carbon as a substrate. You can even use filter media as a substrate. The plants simply do not care which direction the nutrients come from.

Cheers,

 

[waynermills]

activated carbon!yes that would be perfect,great idea.would i need to do anything to the activated carbon before it goes into the aquarium? thanks

 

[ceg4048]

Well, you should wash it because it has a lot of particulates/dust that will float or cloud the water if used straight out of the bag.

Cheers,

 

[mdhardy01]

That's gonna be a hell of a lot of carbon and when you then think about the cost all that carbon for a 750l !!!!
If you like the idea of a black substrate then why not get some black quartz gravel I'm sure this would work out cheaper
Matt