Substrate for tanks

[Tattooedfool83]

I've been using pool filter sand and play sand in various tanks. The play sand is quite dirty for some time, I'm wondering what else people have used in there tanks. In other non apisto tanks I use safe t sorb and black diamond blasting grit. Would these suffice as well or is sand just better??

 

[Cooder]

The only consideration i put into substrate is aesthetic and chemistry. I wouldnt know about those choices, but as long as it is pleasing to you and it wont buffer the water up then they should be fine.

I use Aquasoil Amazonia. Very good for plants, helps keep the ph down to the level apistos like and it looks good too... Although it does take 36 - 48 hrs for it to come completely clear, considering it is a type of soil... Dont wash it either, it turns it to mud.

 

[Tattooedfool83]

Yeah aqua soil is a little out of my price range on this. I was planning crypt and Anubias only tank. So sand and root tabs was the plan, but as u use aqua soil that is bigger pieces then sand so safe t sorb is an option as well. What about lowering ph, in my 10s I use ial but was wondering if a layer of peat below the sand is useful at all?

 

[Tom C]

The only consideration i put into substrate is aesthetic and chemistry. , .....but as long as it is pleasing to you and it wont buffer the water up then they should be fine...

Statements like this make me sad ...
The most important thing to take into account, in fact the fishes' needs, shouldn't they be taken seriously at all...?

Apistogramma belong to the subfamily Geophagini, which means that they "eat earth". This is a very frequent and natural behavior, they are specifically designed for this, and they will normally sift the substrate almost all day long.

I strongly believe that most Apistogramma species won't thrive in the long term without fine sand on the bottom.

Frank Schäfer (Aquarium Glaser, Germany), wrote not long ago:
"Especially the sand is important and the meaning of it often underestimated.
In fact the sand is more important than the water chemistry (hardness, pH).
In the wild, these fish feed mainly on particles they find in the sand.
To find them the fish takes a mouth full of sand, chews the sand and releases the sand through the gill openings.
Food particles attach on special anatomical structures on the gill arches and can be swallowed subsequently.
In case an Apistogramma can find no sand it comes in a situation comparably to humans that get no opportunity to clean their teeth.
This may work for a while, but in most cases sooner or later one becomes sick of it."

This is one of the habitats where I have collected Apistogramma cacatuoides and Apistogramma eremnopyge:

Sand almost as fine as flour, and leaf litter.

And this is how Apistos look like most of the time, when they have the right substrate, when they let the fine sand out again:

 

[Tattooedfool83]

See And that's what I've used in all apisto tanks. I've actually decided to use the sand from a 55 that I'm tearing down. It's pool filter sand and my double reds love to sift it. And I used play sand in other tanks but I find that it seems dirtier then pool filter sand

 

[Cooder]

Statements like this make me sad ...
The most important thing to take into account, in fact the fishes' needs, shouldn't they be taken seriously at all...?

Apistogramma belong to the subfamily Geophagini, which means that they "eat earth". This is a very frequent and natural behavior, they are specifically designed for this, and they will normally sift the substrate almost all day long.

I strongly believe that most Apistogramma species won't thrive in the long term without fine sand on the bottom.

Frank Schäfer (Aquarium Glaser, Germany), wrote not long ago:
"Especially the sand is important and the meaning of it often underestimated.
In fact the sand is more important than the water chemistry (hardness, pH).
In the wild, these fish feed mainly on particles they find in the sand.
To find them the fish takes a mouth full of sand, chews the sand and releases the sand through the gill openings.
Food particles attach on special anatomical structures on the gill arches and can be swallowed subsequently.
In case an Apistogramma can find no sand it comes in a situation comparably to humans that get no opportunity to clean their teeth.
This may work for a while, but in most cases sooner or later one becomes sick of it."

Apologies for coming across as inconsiderate of the fishes needs. I was trying to make things simple to understand. Although, having a coarser or inaccurate substrate to the biotype could be detrimental to Wild or F1, F2 etc. specimens, most commercially common fish are probably bred in bare tanks with some flower pots, if that. After all they are fed "unnatural" foods.
I take a stronger view when it comes to natural accuracy in my tanks whether they be African types or South American dwarfe types, so i can understand how you would feel about this subject, but then i generally soften my approach when giving advice to others asking a more generalized question.

Also, i should have wrote "My FIRST consideration when it comes to substrate is chemistry and aesthetics". Saying they are the only considerations is wrong.

Im currently going through the process of deciding on substrate aswell, and your advice has made up my mind to go a fine sand instead of all out with heaps of aquasoil, so thanks Tom
That will probably limit my plant choice though.... hmmm

 

[Tattooedfool83]

Sand root tabs and crypts

 

[miniman]

Apologies for coming across as inconsiderate of the fishes needs. I was trying to make things simple to understand. Although, having a coarser or inaccurate substrate to the biotype could be detrimental to Wild or F1, F2 etc. specimens, most commercially common fish are probably bred in bare tanks with some flower pots, if that. After all they are fed "unnatural" foods.
I take a stronger view when it comes to natural accuracy in my tanks whether they be African types or South American dwarfe types, so i can understand how you would feel about this subject, but then i generally soften my approach when giving advice to others asking a more generalized question.

Also, i should have wrote "My FIRST consideration when it comes to substrate is chemistry and aesthetics". Saying they are the only considerations is wrong.

Im currently going through the process of deciding on substrate aswell, and your advice has made up my mind to go a fine sand instead of all out with heaps of aquasoil, so thanks Tom
That will probably limit my plant choice though.... hmmm

or just put aquasoil in bags and cap it with sand. thats what ive done

 

[MacZ]

or just put aquasoil in bags and cap it with sand. thats what ive done

Pssst, the thread is 10 years old and the person you answered to hasn't been here for 9 years.

 

[miniman]

Pssst, the thread is 10 years old and the person you answered to hasn't been here for 9 years.

haha yeah i knew it was old ha!