Is substrate type relivent??

[dean]

Now I'm putting this out there to be shot down
Does it matter what substrate we use if we have correct lighting for the plants we keep and dose ei salts?
Surely then the substrate is simply a media for the plants to anchor themselves to??
Therefore totally inert gravel will be fine?

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Does it matter what substrate we use if we have correct lighting for the plants we keep and dose ei salts?

No, it doesn't.

Surely then the substrate is simply a media for the plants to anchor themselves to??

Yes, that is right.

Therefore totally inert gravel will be fine?

Yes it will.

cheers Darrel

 

[Ian Holdich]

Though, having a nutrient rich substrate will cover you if you're dosing lean, or if you just forget.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Though, having a nutrient rich substrate will cover you if you're dosing lean, or if you just forget.

That would be the real reason for having a substrate with CEC (Cation Exchange Capacity) and some slow release nutrients.

"Though small-scale gravel has more surface area, weight for weight, than coarser gravel, the difference between grades of gravels is a minor consideration when both are compared to the surfaces of flocs of humus. It's like comparing the surfaces of a baseball versus a softball to those in bath sponges of the same diameters. Substrates with a higher CEC rating are also more hospitable for bacteria and the build-up of a healthy biofilm. Such substrates would include silt and colloidal clay, Sphagnum peat and unenriched compost or humus. When these materials are incorporated into the lower layer of substrate in a newly set-up planted tank, they will compensate during the first six months for the initial lack of organic humus. It's silt and floc that keep bacterial populations high, some of the very material, incidentally, that obsessive gravel vacuumers are removing."

From this link: <Substrate | The Skeptical Aquarist> & <Biofilm | The Skeptical Aquarist>.

cheers Darrel