Changing Substrate from Gravel to Aquasoil?

[ArxFanatic]

Hi all,

I have a 81x36x45cm planted non-CO2 aquarium with my substrate being inert gravel.
This tank is running for around a year now. There are many root tabs/root balls within the substrate.

Just over a week ago, I have started to carpet Marsilea crenata - and so far it seems like it is spreading in the gravel. The issue is that I have loads of MTS that keep burying into the gravel and I keep finding the marsilea being uprooted or almost uprooted quite often. I was wondering if it would be wise to switch to an active substrate, but something similar to baked soils like aquasoil.

What’s the “smartest” way of going about this? Should I also pluck out all the Marsilea, change the substrate and replant? What’s my best course of action?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[_Maq_]

I suppose the damage would be even worse in a substrate lighter than your gravel. Nice gravel, by the way.

 

[ArxFanatic]

I suppose the damage would be even worse in a substrate lighter than your gravel. Nice gravel, by the way.

Would I ge better off just leaving it as is? I was thinking of capping it with sand, but the sand will eventually sink down and it’ll be pointless, so..

 

[_Maq_]

Would I ge better off just leaving it as is?

I can't tell the degree of your difficulty from your pics and description. Yet I believe in time Marsilea will create deeper roots and will get more resilient to disturbance. The trouble would be supposedly worse if you had some smaller, true carpet plants.
You can consider limiting your Melanoides population. From my experience, they tolerate acidic conditions much less than ramshorns.

 

[OllieTY]

Grab yourself an assassin snail or 2 and let them get to work ( Although they also dig). Also you can try using pleco wafers to bait out the MTS and then throw them on the compost heap...

 

[AlecF]

The other plants look good. Maybe just accept the way marsilea grows in the tank as it is; otherwise I think you are looking at a full re-scape? It seems to be that carpets and aquasoil are a different kind of approach and attempting to mix the two may be problematic. You are right, capping with sand won't work. Maybe remove some Marsilea and treat it more as a small specimen plant, in clusters, rather than attempting a carpet. If it wasn't so regular I'd say the scale and colour adds attractiveness, lessening the uniformity of texture of the gravel, especially if you also added some botanicals to soften the feel. Small green leaves emerging from leaves could look good, along with alder cones, etc.

 

[ArxFanatic]

Perhaps treating the Marsilea differently - small clusters might look more attractive.
Looking at it again, I feel the Marsilea might form too 'dark' of a carpet than what I had in mind. I wonder if Eleocharis parvula might look more attractive - being a lighter shade of green.

I'm not sure if Eleocharis parvula roots would be deep enough to properly root in the gravel compared to the Marsilea.

 

[LightingBamboozled]

As someone with marsilea hirsuta and crenata and triple digit MTS in inert gravel my advice is give it a couple of months. Once the root systems establish the MTS stop disturbing the water clover and it can carpet well.

My Eleocharis Acicularis on the other hand never managed to establish although partly that was because of a resurgence of dwarf Sag outcompeting it.

 

[seedoubleyou]

Just a heads up too, those “rainbow sharks” get to about 15cm in length so will easily outgrow your tank.

 

[_Maq_]

remove some Marsilea and treat it more as a small specimen plant, in clusters, rather than attempting a carpet

Marsilea takes its time before expanding, but then, you'll hardly stop it and it'll spread through runners everywhere. (That's why I don't like it any more. The same for all Eleocharis species.)

 

[Tankless]

Marsilea takes its time before expanding, but then, you'll hardly stop it and it'll spread through runners everywhere. (That's why I don't like it any more. The same for all Eleocharis species.)

I prefer Marsilea to Elecharis as it grows a lot slower therefore less maintenance in my opinion. But Eleocharis is one of the few carpeting plants that root quick enough and survive with a full grown Bristlenose pleco.

 

[AlecF]

Also, as you have corys I'd see if you can add sand to one corner.

 

[ArxFanatic]

Just a heads up too, those “rainbow sharks” get to about 15cm in length so will easily outgrow your tank.

Then that’s a good excuse for an upgrade when he starts to grow bigger.

 

[ArxFanatic]

I prefer Marsilea to Elecharis as it grows a lot slower therefore less maintenance in my opinion. But Eleocharis is one of the few carpeting plants that root quick enough and survive with a full grown Bristlenose pleco.

So in terms of root strength, do you rank Eleocharis above Marsilea? I had Eleocharis acicularis ‘mini’ in this tank (no CO2 and inert substrate - so it was a stretch anyway), but my hillstream loach would keep digging it out of the gravel.

Wonder if Eleocharis parvula is the sweet spot for this tank.

 

[ArxFanatic]

Also, as you have corys I'd see if you can add sand to one corner.

I was thinking of doing that, but wouldn’t the sand get mixed up with gravel eventually?

 

[AlecF]

Yes, it would, but if the sane was deep enough and you were happy to scrape the gravel away now and then, while it looks a bit natural, mixed, non-perfect, corys may enjoy it. You could add in a divider to minimise the mixing. Your gravel seems quite round so some being mixed in wouldn't probably bother them. There's lots of tutorials on how to do barriers, perhaps even adding a piece of wood, half in the gravel? I have some gravel sand mix in the corner of a tank and it's OK. It is a bit tricky as you don't want a single mini beach effect! Maybe a mix of barrier, a few larger pebbles, some wood, and accepting a mix of gravel and sand at the edge of the area. Could go in a back corner, or even behind your "island"?

 

[ArxFanatic]

Yes, it would, but if the sane was deep enough and you were happy to scrape the gravel away now and then, while it looks a bit natural, mixed, non-perfect, corys may enjoy it. You could add in a divider to minimise the mixing. Your gravel seems quite round so some being mixed in wouldn't probably bother them. There's lots of tutorials on how to do barriers, perhaps even adding a piece of wood, half in the gravel? I have some gravel sand mix in the corner of a tank and it's OK. It is a bit tricky as you don't want a single mini beach effect! Maybe a mix of barrier, a few larger pebbles, some wood, and accepting a mix of gravel and sand at the edge of the area. Could go in a back corner, or even behind your "island"?

That sounds like a good idea. I could put small dividers in the back and add some sand to it.

Also another question: would Eleocharis parvula grow in inert gravel without CO2? I know it's not ideal, but if I'm not adding aquasoil to the gravel, I'm wondering if this might just work with more root tabs and root balls.

 

[_Maq_]

would Eleocharis parvula grow in inert gravel without CO2?

It grew for me. Without any root tabs. The only drawback was that it grew too quickly, too much.

 

[ArxFanatic]

That sounds like a good idea. I could put small dividers in the back and add some sand to it.

Also another question: would Eleocharis parvula grow in inert gravel without CO2? I know it's not ideal, but if I'm not adding aquasoil to the gravel, I'm wondering if this might just work with more root tabs and root balls.

Sounds promising, nevertheless!

I ended up buying Eleocharis pusilla instead. The LFS only had these - hope they carpet alright with strong lighting, ferts and liquid CO2.