Find here the essentials and best sellers for our pond owners.
Find here the essentials and best sellers for our pond owners.
Once you have chosen the right substrate for your aquarium, you will need to know how much to put in the bottom of your jar. Too thick a substrate could affect the well-being of your fish.
However, too thin a substrate thickness could prevent your plants from growing serenely. So, what thickness of substrate should you place at the bottom of your aquarium? Read the rest of this article to find out!
When it comes to aquariums, substrate refers to any material that forms the bottom of your aquarium. You know those pebbles at the bottom of your aquarium? Well, that's the substrate. But then, why use a substrate for your aquarium?
The main reason people use substrate is to improve the appearance of the aquarium.
Do fish have a glass bottom habitat in the wild? No. By adding material to the bottom of the aquarium, your fish will feel like they have a more natural environment. Not to mention that the substrate makes your fish stand out. For information, dark fish are easier to see on a light substrate and vice versa.
In addition, the substrate harbors bacteria. You know those beneficial bacteria that participate in the nitrogen cycle? While the majority of them live in your filter, some also cover the substrate of your jar. In fact, you can use substrate from an existing aquarium to speed up the cycle of your brand new aquarium.
Finally, plant roots have to grow well from somewhere. Without substrate, your plants float on the surface of the water, which is still less nice to see...
As you can see, there are very compelling reasons to use substrate in your aquarium.
The thickness of the substrate should be between 3 and 8 mm. Large granules will block root growth and smaller ones may even crush them. It is recommended, when starting the aquarium, to add the substrate in phases.
For example, mix the first layer of solid fertilizer and place it in the tray. Then, you will add a maximum of two layers, refining the thickness of the granules as you go. There is no need to add fertilizer to the last layers.
In order to prepare a nutritious substrate to have your aquatic plants resplendent, here is the secret.
First of all, if you want to make a planted tank, you will need quality nutritious soil. Plants need a number of macro and micronutrients to grow. To classify substrates according to their role in the growth of aquatic plants, we can establish two main classes.
Inert substrates include gravel, sand and baked clay products. These are the ones that provide no nutritional value in a planted tank.
Why would anyone want something like this in their freshwater aquarium? For many reasons :
Depletion substrates are aquarium soils that have a high nutrient value and therefore directly support vegetative growth in a planted aquarium.
As they contain a limited amount of organic matter, they must be renewed over time, as they decompose slowly. These include commercial grade aqua-sols and ordinary soils.
Despite advertising, some commercial planted aquarium substrates contain nutrients as bound molecules. These will not be able to decompose and reach the roots of your starving plants. For this reason, in order to optimize the growth of your live plants, you should always add a high quality aquarium fertilizer in liquid or root tablet form when using these substrates.
There is no one right answer to this question. You can't just look at a great aquarium and copy the composition of its substrate. Indeed, everyone's water is slightly different. For example, in the world of gardening, serious hobbyists test their soil to find out which nutrients they have and which they lack.
Got it all figured out about the ideal substrate thickness for an aquarium? So, quickly discover our article on the different types of aquarium substrates!
Leave a comment