www.aquariumplants.com substrate

ricoishere · Post by **ricoishere** » Mon Jul 27, 2009 12:57 pm

Iâ€™m looking for substrate for a new tank. Has anyone here ever used, or know of anyone else, using www.aquariumplants.com substrate? They guarantee itâ€™ll work, and compare it to Seachem and Eco-complete. This is pretty aggressive. Any comments would be appreciated.

jcali10 · Post by **jcali10** » Mon Jul 27, 2009 1:26 pm

I never tried it, but I believe it is very similar to Soil Master Select turf conditioner. Unfortunately, SMS Pro is no longer available. It should work fine, you will need to dose the water column as it has no nutritive value. On either APC or The Planted Tank, somebody put up a post comparing the different substrates with pictures, but it's been a long time since I've looked at it.

DonkeyFish · Post by **DonkeyFish** » Mon Jul 27, 2009 1:47 pm

FWIW, and this is absolutely solely my personal opinion...

I would not do another tank with SMS. Well, at least not if I were planning on keeping ANY bottom dwellers. It has grown plants well enough, but is a tad jagged for the cories and over time is has turned into a delightful muck under the top 1/2" or so. Maybe that's a good thing, but I don't much care for the mess.

From what I read the aquariumplants.com stuff isn't as sharp, it's more like the EcoComplete in terms of varying granule sizes and roundness. I've used EC and do like it, although my sister referred to it as looking like "a bunch of crumbled Oreo cookies". Seriously? Really not sure where that came from, she's far from anything that could be remotely considered as having interest in the hobby short of whatever is going on in my condo. And that's marginal. Only sharing that story in case you have a particular affection (or affliction) for Oreo cookies.

B Considine · Post by **B Considine** » Mon Jul 27, 2009 1:51 pm

If color is not paramount, you might try this: http://www.lesco.com/?PageID=27&ItemNumber=088965

Google tells me it's the replacement for Soilmaster. However, I suspect the color is "infield red". There's a store in Silver Spring.

Blaise

ricoishere · Post by **ricoishere** » Mon Jul 27, 2009 2:14 pm

I happen to like Oreo cookies. Eco complete is good, but itâ€™s not the best looking. I think Seachem black sand looks better though. It levels better. Thatâ€™s just my humble opinion.

chris_todd · Post by **chris_todd** » Mon Jul 27, 2009 2:30 pm

ricoishere wrote:I happen to like Oreo cookies. Eco complete is good, but itâ€™s not the best looking. I think Seachem black sand looks better though. It levels better. Thatâ€™s just my humble opinion.

You could use Ecocomplete (or whatever substrate you think best), and cap it with 3M ColorQuartz black sand. We've done that in 2 tanks now, and really like it. The ColorQuartz looks great, and because it's fairly heavy, it makes planting a real pleasure - you stick a stem in, and as you're withdrawing the tool, the grains fall in and surround the stem, keeping it down.

Michael Barber knows where to get the stuff, and may have a bag or two available. IIRC, it took about one full bag to cap my 75g tank.

ricoishere · Post by **ricoishere** » Mon Jul 27, 2009 3:09 pm

Chris, thanks for this. I will look into that. I like that idea. I will also conract mike for the Colorquartz

ddavila06 · Post by **ddavila06** » Mon Jul 27, 2009 6:47 pm

i have a third of a bag you can have on that colo quartz for free if you want it. Rich was going to get it but we could never arrange pick up...

ricoishere · Post by **ricoishere** » Mon Jul 27, 2009 7:05 pm

SOLD! Seachem Black Sand and black 3m colorquartz top is it! Now to order. BIG ALS it is. Wifey gonna trip

when she sees the 47 out

, and 90 in.

www.aquariumplants.com substrate

www.aquariumplants.com substrate

Sponsors