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I used unipac with a shoal of corydoras for a year or so.. no issues.. the barbels were ok, and so were they..

Use either akadama, unipac gravel, or aquarium gravel.. Why bother with the rest? I have even used amazonia mixed with akadama on large tanks with good result. ___________________________ Luis @ghostsword

Yep, it is so cheap. :) I keep the excess on the garden, even sprinkle a bit on top of grass mixed with some ferts and seeds. :) ___________________________

Argos kids play sand is cheap and goes well with the stone. ___________________________

What I do is to soak the soil on a bucket for two to three weeks, change water often and when it is ready to plant it will already be soaked and somewhat free of ammonia. :) It will not crumble, one just needs to pour carefully.

Why not get the tropica substrate? Tried and tested, only need a bag really and it is cheap. A mess when you uproot plants, big issue. ___________________________ I don't know what is the secret of success, but the secret of failure is trying to please the world!

I prefer akadama, very cheap, good colour and easy to work with. I cook it on a high temperature oven for a while and stays even harder. ___________________________ I don't know what is the secret of success, but the secret of failure is trying to please the world!

Yeah sand ha that issue. I never use more than 2cm, would not use it to plant anything in, for that same reason. Easy to get compacted and go nasty. There are other options to pea gravel, many other options. .

There is nothing wrong with sand, but plants need nutrients. So if you dose well and keep with the schedule, then you could just have sand. You just need to worry about gases on the sand, that is the main worry. .

Hi, do you have an eBay shop, or accept paypal? .

That is true, Dupla Ground is something not for the faint hearted, and if this is the same as Dupla, only the small pieces are recommended. Dennerle substrate, the one for shrimp, is the best substrate I have tried.

I know we are talking about sands, and that site is just amazing, thanks for that, but have you looked at the fired clay balls? http://www.specialistaggregates.com/mor ... bb80f71e62

Yep, forgive my English. :) I meant nylon tights. :) They last a long time underwater. .

Ladies socks filled with gravel are very good. :) .

A good nutrient substrate goes a long way, and your plants will root quicker and give you more room for error. I use Tropica Aquasoil under all my substrate, and echinodorus and crypts grow like weeds. :) Also it depends what sort of plants you are looking to have.

That is the motherload of a tank. Really big! For plants, crypts, easy to deal with co2 and they do creep up nicely. About Corys, their barbels get damaged easily, so the sand has to be smooth, anything sharp will mess them up. Great tank! .

Yep, and would work just perfectly! .

I would sell it, it would be good for wabikusas, or as clay balls to mix with osmocote. Mud on the tank is not cool. Reuse it somehow, it is too hood to waste. .

Tried the tropica substrate, very good if you are not going to move plants again. There isn't a messier substrate than that, at least that I the messier I've used. Akadama is the second best, especially the fine version. .

I believe that it is inert. I like inert substrate, as I dose EI, do not need more stuff on the substrate.

I got this one. http://www.reptilica.co.uk/Dennerle-Nan ... rown.phtml

Going to be blunt, and please moderators do not give me a hard time. :) Keep away from it unless you are intended to use it on a emersed setup. I do have about 10 kg of it at home, use it on my emersed tanks, and the reasons are below: - too big granules, put it on a nano and it looks like you...

With too many other projects the soil took a step back.. until now. I purchased 25kg of clay, so now I got enough clay to make wabi balls, plant pots and some soil. The plan is to mix clay with some hydrocoton, and add some iron fillings to it, then cook it on a kiln to 1000C, break it in to...

I dont have HC, but I got Hairgrass, and it grows fine on 5cm total of substrate. I also use EI.

Hi, I use Tropica plant substrate, topped up with black sand. The tank looked like this on one of my previous scapes: About TGM, I live in London and have visited it :) .. One of the best shops in the UK.

Great link..

Buy online, TGM sells substrates, and they deliver for very good prices.

I have used it actually. a 2cm layer of Tropica Aquacare then topped up with another 2cm of dark substrate. There is only one thing for you to look out for, when you uproot plants you need to be careful, very muddy. Especially Amazon's, Cryptos or Lotus bulbs. This is how your tank will...

I have tried old filter media crushed on a ice crusher, lots of bacteria and coarse enough for the bottom, especially if you cap it with sand. Why throw it away when we can recycle it, and it is very cheap. Only drawback is that if you uproot plants some have roots going through the media.

Darrel's soil looks like this: I am using it on a small project, emmersed L Aromatica on a 5L bottle:

An Article on Tom Barr's forum that can also assist on making a soil that will provide nutrients to the plants. http://www.barrreport.com/showthread.ph ... best/page3 Some good ideas, for sure to try out.

Thanks Darrel, I will try your recipe and let you know how it goes. What I am after is indeed something similar to Hydroton, but something that sinks, and keeps its shape for a while. Should have all ingredients by end of week, will use a scale to measure the portions, so that if I find a...

:) No mate.. I know that you weren't flaming, it was just so when others would read my comment that water is still water they would not get the wrong idea. ... Hard to explain things on forums and emails.. :) For the record, before you someone tries this at home, I am testing the soils on two...

Thanks Darrel, Good idea on the Coir, maybe I could replace the soil with coir. I would like to not just use clay. My reason for the cat litter would be to create some porous pieces, with the clay attached to it, something for the roots to take hold. I am not sure about the ratio of clay to...

And when did water stopped being water? Will water stop being H2O because we add nutrients to it? :D I do understand the comment, and my reply is in jest, so no flaming please. :) I am happy that you appreciate my enthusiasm as a newcomer, and I do agree that it is prudent to listen to others...

Test the soil? Soil is soil right? :) What I intend to do is to mix following: - B&Q Organic Living Peat Free Growing Bag @ £3 for 30kg - Plain cat litter @ the £1 shop - hair drying clay @ £10 for 12kg Mix the above in equal parts then add trace mix, make a thin slab and put it on the...

Thanks Tom, Great insight into this thread. So basically I can get good soil, give it a wash, add trace to it and NH4, then bake it on the oven for a couple of hours to dry out? I will try it this weekend, and see how it goes. No need to truck soil from god knows where if I can make my own...

Fantastic.. we will get there, and maybe achieve the perfect soil, without the cheesy grins.. :) Bat guano is currently being used on hydroponics, so maybe sprinkle some as the soil hardens would work. It is quite cool that someone is using cooked sewage as fertilizer, it does make sense.

Re: How its made - Oliver Knott's NatureSoil Someone I know has a kiln, his mother makes pottery. Now, should we add nutrients to the soil when is it being baked, such as trace mix? Would 500C change the chemical components of the mix? It shouldn't, as the soil around volcanoes is pretty...

Re: How its made - Oliver Knott's NatureSoil Try to get some pricing.. :) I will see how much a furnace costs, 500C is not a lot of heat, some ovens do that (I think!), so there maybe a possibility. The result is very good, and what you sent me will be used on 20cm cube, got enough cuttings...

Re: How its made - Oliver Knott's NatureSoil Hi Darrel, I got the soil, and I am very happy with it. I placed it on a glass with some water, and it does not turn to mud, it has a mixture of grain size, which is great for plants to take hold on. How much would you charge for a 10kg bag of...

Re: How its made - Oliver Knott's NatureSoil Fantastic Darrel, I will setup a old tank I have at home to take this soil, will place there the 100 odd Staurogyne's that Tom Barr is sending me. Will be really good to see how the plants take to your soil, however will top it up with sand, so...

Re: How its made - Oliver Knott's NatureSoil Hi Darrell, no issue, it is worth the wait... :)

Re: How its made - Oliver Knott's NatureSoil Thanks Darrel, Much appreciated.. :) I will use the sample you send on the 20cm cube to enter the ADA comp, give it a name, as I would like to list it as substrate on the description. Thanks.

Re: How its made - Oliver Knott's NatureSoil Hi Darrell, I would like to experiment with it.. :) How much to post a 5kg to London?

Hi, has anyone used Hydro clay balls on the tank? I have a bunch of hanging planters for my tank and a couple of pots and I am looking for a substrate for it. Currently I am using rockwool and the results are good, but would like something more natural. Thanks,...