01-01-2004, 09:52 PM
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What is the best substrate for a beginner
(Giancarlo Podio) wrote in message om...
I find it hard to understand all the fuss about Flourite and the dust
it creates. Have we all lost our patience? Sure it creates some dust
but it clears up in a day or two. I would have thought that color or
growth quality would be the biggest reason why one would choose
between the two. In my case the color is the only reason why I'm not
using it, I prefer the more natural look of Flourite myself.
Eco-complete seems to have many trace elements that Flourite doesn't
have, I can see the benefit there as you won't need to add them
yourself, obviously time will tell how long these elements will be
available for, plus once the Flourite substrate has matured, chances
are it will provide many of these elements too. But unless you plan on
building sand castles in your tank, I think the dust factor of
Flourite shouldn't be made into such a big deal. Messing around with
any substrate will cause problems, and it's not the dust you need to
worry about. If we're talking about best substrate for beginners, then
perhaps the fact that eco-complete already contains some nutrients may
give it the advantage, but I don't think it will make or break a tank,
if you are successful with eco-complete I'm sure you would be just as
successful with Flourite.
Giancarlo Podio
I'bve never had any issues in a number of years with flourite "dust"
or clarity. But I use a slow fill method with a bucket so that no
gravel is disturbed when filling. I rinse 3 x with a bucket and add
it.
I think there may be something to the flourite scracthing the soft
acrylic vs Eco complete, but heck,snails if they get caught in the
scrub pad when wiping the glass/acrylic will cause as much if not
more.
It also depends on the depth of the gravel if it's below the viewing
line(if the gravel is sloped down to the viewable edge in the front.
I simply pull the gravel back, then clean that region. If you use
something like a Kent pro scaper, you have less chance of scraping
ALSO.
Regards,
Tom Barr
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