Reddit reviews Flourite, 7 kg / 15.4 lbs
We found 8 Reddit comments about Flourite, 7 kg / 15.4 lbs. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Rinse right in the bagAll natural Porous clayFor Planted Aquarium
Equipment: IMO aquaclears are the best HOB filter. Canister filters are a little more expensive and can be a little more difficult than HOBs at first as far as cleaning and setting up. However, they are superior to HOBs in most ways. Eheim and fluval make great canisters, then sunsun have been hit or miss from what I've heard.
I suggest getting two heaters, one on each side of the tank. That way if one fails your fish won't be fried or frozen.
Substrate: pool filter sand is easy and cheap, it can grow plants fine if you use root tabs. You can try the walstad method, which involves putting down a layer of organic potting soil then capping it with sand. It is cheap and very effective for growing plants if done right. The downfall is that it can be messy and its very very hard to rescape. Other options are plant substrates. Eco complete and flourite are two decent substrates for growing plants, moderately priced too. If you have extra money to spend then you can use some type of aquasoil. ADA, Mr. Aqua, ST are all high quality plant substrates, but again pricey.
Lighting: Finnex makes great LEDs for growing plants, a little expensive, but they are very good. For 20" height, the planted+ or original Fugeray should be fine without CO2 and not promote too much algae.
Plants: For plants, you probably won't be able to carpet dwarf baby tears without a strong LED and pressurized CO2. You can do a dwarf hair grass carpet, but it might go slowly without investing in a good light. aquaswap is a great place to buy plants. Butteredscrimp puts out a monthly sale and can help you assemble a plant package. I can vouch for him as being reliable. Just have to give him a price range, some details about your tank such as lighting and size, and some plants you like!
Decorations: Driftwood is a great way to fill space and make your tank feel a little more natural. Spider wood and manzanita are my favorite. Check your LFS to see if they have any pieces you like first. If not, there are several good places you can get driftwood online. Driftwood will release tannins (won't harm fish) into your tank when placed in water and might take a while to sink depending on the piece. I suggest putting it in while your tank is cycling.
You can also go with rocks/stones. They should be scrubbed under hot water before going into the tank. Some rocks can break down and affect your water chemistry. To test if they will you can do the vinegar test. Take the rock and add a few drops of vinegar or a stronger acid. If it fizzles or bubbles then it should not be placed in the tank because it can raise the pH of the water.
Fish: For shrimp amano shrimp are great, they eat hair algae and scavenge leftovers. They won't breed in freshwater though. Red cherry shrimp come in different grades (all very attractive) and are a relatively easy shrimp to keep, they will breed like crazy if provided an adequate environment The babies will be small and can/will be eaten by most fish.
For snails, nerite snails are regarded as some of the best algae eaters, won't reproduce in freshwater, and they are very cool looking. But female snails will leave unattractive, hard to remove, white eggs everywhere. You need a metal blade to scrape them off. u/gastropoid is your go to for snail info.
For a schooling fish you can go big or small. some of my favorite bigger schooling fish include congo tetras and bosemani rainbowfish. There are lots of other good sized rainbowfish if you decide to go that direction. Some popular small schooling fish include harlequin rasboras, neon tetras, cardinal tetras, and rummy nose tetras. Other tetras and rasboras will work too! Some rasboras are tiny though, maxing out at about 1 inch so those are a little less compatible usually. Barbs are another good schooling fish, but they can be nippy and semi-aggressive. Otocinclus are a schooling fish, but they are algae eaters and can be a little sensitive when brought into a new tank.
Fish I would avoid are common plecos, they get massive. And chinese/siamese algae eaters. They are fantastic algae eaters as juveniles, but they become aggressive when they grow up.
final thoughts: if you're going planted, look into EI dosing and root tabs, it will help plants thrive. You said you have experience with freshwater tanks so I assume you know about the nitrogen cycle and fishless cycling. If you don't there is a site under the helpful links tab at the top of the page. Look through the other links there too! great information. Visit plantedtank for more plant info, inspiration, and guides.
Good luck!
Sure, both the Cube and the Bowl are a mix of Seachem Flourite as base substrate and Fluval Shirmp Stratum in the surface
The Spec below is using only Fluval's
If you're doing plants, you could look up on ada aquasoil
or eco-complete
or flourite
You could also mixup them
Here are some pictures from setting up the hardscape, as well as a close up of the plants
And here's some info!
Tank - mr aqua 12g long The back of the tank has been painted with plastidip.
Filter - Eheim 2215
Heater - Hydor 200w inline heater
Light - Current USA Satellite LED+. Have it dimmed to ~60% RGB/White on a memory setting.
Light stand - This off amazon which I had to bend a bit since it's narrower than the Satellite.
Pipes - Chinese lily pipes off ebay. Going to be replacing them with these stainless steel ones
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Sand - Carib sea sand
Gravel substrate - Seachem Flourite
Rocks - Seiryu Stone I bought a few packs and have a good amount extra, just to use interesting pieces. Took a chisel to one rock to get smaller parts to work with.
Wood - 4 Pieces of small / medium spiderwood from my LFS. My LFS had a good selection and they let me configure some pieces to see how they'd work together.
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Plants:
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No fauna yet but I plan on moving my RCS over, and getting some micro crabs and possibly another type of shrimp!
Do you need like a giant bag or something? Not sure how big your tank is. But this here is only 27 pounds https://www.amazon.co.uk/Seachem-495-Flourite-15-4-lbs/dp/B00025YSB0
Theres also Fluval stratum that's said to be good too
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fluval-Stratum-volcanic-planted-aquarium/dp/B00JGQIY48?th=1&psc=1
If you're not into the high tech set ups, some of this, and good lighting does wonders for some of the hardier stuff. If you just have some beginner plants it's almost idiot proof. *Source: am an idiot.
That's a good gravel but it will be hard to carpet small plants in because of the size of the pebbles. So I'd suggest mixing a smaller more nutritious substrate in the areas you want to put your smallest plants. like Flourite
and also bury some fertilizer tabs
CaribSea and Flourite are popular aquarium specific substrates. Another popular, and cheaper, option is to use potting soil and cap it with plain pool filter sand or cheap aquarium gravel, like this thread.