SUBSTRATES Seachem Flourite black sand, Tetraplant Complete, Caribsea Eco-Complete

Hi guys, not sure which substrate to go for, I was thinking dirt but after the cost of new gravel ontop of that, it would work out almost the same as the more expencive stuff.

What would you choose? Any personal experience? Good or bad experience?

Below are the prices for the total ammount of substrate I would be buying. In all cases I will probably have some left over.

Seachem Flourite Black Sand - £140

Tetraplant Complete - £100

Caribsea Eco-Complete - £100

or would you recomend a different substrate? It must be dark, brown or black. and also if not sand, needs to be smooth as I keep corydoras.

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Permalink Reply by AquaNoob on June 11, 2012 at 7:44pm

i am curious about this as well! Hoping for replies! Have heard good things about eco-complete though...

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Permalink Reply by Peter on June 11, 2012 at 9:30pm

Are u checking gravel n sand prices only at ur LFS cus they always charge lots for that. Check a construction store and suck they sell gravel n sand super cheap in stead of flourite use non clumpin kitty litter it's the same thing just cheaper.

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Permalink Reply by Robert Jango on June 11, 2012 at 11:30pm

Put clay pellets on top of the dirt. You can get a 50lb bag for about $5 at your local automotive supply store. It goes by the name "Oil-sorb" or something similar. Its used to absorb oil spills. Its also sold as "Turface" (used on baseball infields during rain) and non-clumping kitty litter. You should check the kitty litter to make sure there are no additives, but he other 2 products are 99.9% clay. (.01% Silica)

This stuff isn't as fertile as the clay Dustin recommends, but its still great and it has an attractive appearance coming in blue-gray and terra cotta shades. The stuff you want is great, but nothing beats dirt. In this case the best things in life are free.

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Permalink Reply by Danny1107 on June 12, 2012 at 7:19am

Prices are not from my LFS.

I have tried moler clay (kitty litter) before and I didn't like it, I'm not wanting to use dirt, I have tried it and I do like it but I want to try something else.

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Permalink Reply by Danny D. on June 14, 2012 at 7:02pm

eco-complete good stuff just throw it in your tank add water and your good to go..comes with alot of bacteria to kick start your cycle and good substarte for plants...

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Permalink Reply by Mc Fish on June 15, 2012 at 1:59am

I've never used tetra plant. Eco-complete and flourite are pretty comparable to one another, the benefit of sand is that when you grow carpeting plants with small roots (IE hc and glosso) its substantially better. Both substrate I feel work better when aged a little. Flourite is a bit messier that eco complete, it was a pain for me to rinse it out. If money is no object, ADA aquasoil or the nature soil by oliver knott work best. Nature soil drops your pH quite a bit, so be weary of that. I've also heard good things about Fluval Stratum, which isn't as expensive but the bags are really small.