Tank Substrate

R

rory

Guest
Ok so i've got the tank but i'm not sure what substrate i've temporaily got my Axies in a bucket in the fridge but i want to have River rocks (the huge ones this big> < is it ok or will the axies eat them still i will put thin layer of gravel so there are no large gaps in between stones please need feedback fast

Sand is not an option
 
'In' as in inches or the 'in' mesurment...? lol

Also if its inches than i recon its fine, i used to have rockes that big but i found it not to be my style so i changed. Make sure they're clean.
 
same with me, the food gets trapped in it too easily making it super hard to keep clean. also the gravel you put in between can get eaten.... so id leave the gravel out. go to a building supplies place and ask for plasterers sand/something like that- good stuff, just make sure you ask if its had any chemicals added or has limestone in it
 
IF sand is out of the question, how about fine gravel, i have gravel at around 1mm thick.
 
i think thats sort of classed as sand aint it? it is in my head anyways
 
No i think of sand as really find stuff liek powder. I think of gravel as wanything you can clearly see the pebbles.
 
as sharn said, the food will get caught in between rocks and make it very difficult for you to fish it out. in my opinion its either sand or nothing.
 
I like to use large thin pieces of slate on the bottom with only a few river rocks to fill in the cracks between. Then I can do quick clean ups with a turkey baster and a siphon when I do a water change takes care of the rest. For me this has been the easiest arrangement and it works great at breeding time. If you get natural slate tiles cut in squares you wind up with very few places stuff can get trapped, but I usually just use naturally shaped pieces.
 
1 inch pebbles are a bit risky, I have heard of axies eating them at that size, well attempting to and getting them stuck in there mouth
blush.gif
 
Ok heres a really weird Question can you blend rocks?? that would be a cheap resolution for my tank wouldn't it.
Stupid hey well i got the tank ready now i need to find a background and filter what type should i use???
 
of course you can blend aquarium gravels! some actually look quite nice

backgrounds- well thats really up to you, some go with painted backgrounds (like black if you have a white axie) i personally prefer plain backgrounds for tanks that arent planted heavily as i find it just looks silly, if you have lots of plants the planted backgrounds can look quite good though, gives it more depth.

filters... now you have the 2 footer right? roughly 60L so id go with something you can turn down to around 100 lph. internals would work ok for you IMO. if you have heaps of spare $$ a canister would be nice too and you could transfer it to a bigger tank if you were ever to upgrade, but make sure you can turn it down heaps!
 
Sharn I think Rory means can you blend gravel into fine particles, like sand, not can you mix them together. You wouldn't be able to grind up the gravel effectively with any equipment that you would have acess to. Make sure you purchase a filter with a spray bar (or make one yourself) or one with a flow that can be turned down.

Also if you were interested in making a background for yourself there are many articles about it on the web.
 
Ok i tried blending the gravel and it worked they turned out around 1mm thick pebbly things it looks cool aswell so thats the substrate outta tha way now with the filter whats a spray bar and how much would a filter cost me in Australia Nsw ???
 
lol, stupid sharn!

a spray bar is a pipe type thing that is attached to your outlet pipe. the pipe has holes drilled in it and it comes out of the water and runs paralell to it, attached by suction cups, it makes sort of a waterfall effect.

it depends on what type of filter you want to buy - probably anywhere from $20 upwards
 
Ok i think i have a spray bar on my old tank ,
i was thinking about getting a internal filter but not sure which would be the best for under $100.
 
you can get internals pretty cheap these days, its the externals that set ya back! alot of people like eheim, fluval etc- those are the 'top' brands though so more expensive, however some of them do have useful things like clogging indicators etc!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
General chit-chat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.
    There are no messages in the chat. Be the first one to say Hi!
    Back
    Top