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Plant & axie friendly substrates

danchristopher

New member
Joined
Jul 28, 2011
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Location
Sydney
I'm getting my new tank tomorrow and have decided I'd like to attempt some "low-tech" low-light plant growth for a more natural looking aquarium seeing as it will feature quite prominently in my living room. I have a ton of driftwood so I plan to use that to make several hiding spots and want plant growth around them for additional shaded areas.

I've been reading tons of info on all different kinds of substrates to use; the play sand I currently have in my main axie tank has, over time, come to look a bit dirty and unappealing so I'd prefer a dark substrate. I'm aware that most plant-specific substrates are unsuited to axies (because of iron and other chemicals and whatnot) but would like to find something that will work well for my plants and cause no harm to my little slimy friends :rolleyes:

I've seen RedSea Florabase recommended on here as safe for axie use but after some further research on it I've learnt that it apparently disintegrates after about a year into a mush and needs to be replaced. Has anyone used it or has any further information about this?
In a few other threads some people suggested that Eco-Complete might work (the dry version I assume?) but it is expensive and due to my complete lack of knowledge regarding chemical compounds in substrates I'm worried that it might still cause problems. Has anyone used this substrate for axolotls with success?

The other idea I've been throwing around is the "Walstad" soil substrate setup that I've found a bunch of info on (including this thread here: http://www.caudata.org/forum/f1173-...ia-etc/62491-potting-soil-aquatic-set-up.html).
Does anyone use anything like this for their axolotls? My main concern is that I have little experience with these kinds of 'mixtures' and wouldn't want to get it wrong...
Also, would something like this be the closest thing to their biotope? There's not very much information about Lake Xochimilco around the place.

And finally, I plan to cap whatever substrate I use with a layer of black sand. If anyone in Aus (especially Sydney!) knows where one might find some nice black sand that isn't the Tahitian Moon Sand (I am paranoid! http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...e/80274-warning-about-tahitian-moon-sand.html) I would love to know. I think I've seen some fairly basic looking black aquarium sand in Pet Barn so that's what I'm leaning towards for the time being.

Otherwise, any other ideas for substrates that might work would be good. In the end though, the tank is for the axies and I would not want to use anything that would adversely affect them so if it's going to end up being more trouble than it's worth and I end up having to stick with some inert sand, so be it. I'll just hope I can get plants to grow decently anyway (and just use a lot of anubias to stick to the driftwood!) lol :D
 
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