Hi all,
There is nothing wrong with "Carib sea Eco-complete", <
http://www.charterhouse-aquatics.co.uk/catalog/caribsea-ecocomplete-live-planted-substrate-20lbs-p-1729.html> but I think the "heterotrophic bacteria content" is a bit of a red-herring, and it is quite an expensive option. You might find it blows about a bit in a tank with lots of flow. I'm waiting to collect some
Corydoras habrosus to "dither" some L129 ish
Hypancistrus, so I'm hoping they will be all right as well.
A lot of people on UKAPS are using the Bonsai soil "Akadama" (have a look here for some Akadama details: <
http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/akadama.htm>) or a very similar, but even cheaper media, "Tesco's lightweight non-clumping cat litter" (you need the non-clumping one, which says "moler clay"). You also need to rinse the perfume out of this one, but it looks really good.
Any substrate with a reasonable CEC (Cation Exchange Capacity) will hold onto nutrients. Eco-complete is actually fairly inert, so you will need to add some macro-nutrients (N-P-K) to either the substrate or the water column.
Personally I use silica sand (swimming pool filter or play sand) with a small amount (about 10%) of 1:1 clay: leaf mould. Nutrient addition is using the slow release fertiliser "Osmocote". I also run all my tanks (all planted) on a very lean NPK mix with no CO2 etc.
I'm going to try cat litter:leaf mould:clay
smocote in the next tank.
cheers Darrel
