"TR" wrote in message
...
Hi,
I am planning to start a second aquarium (20 or 30G long), designed to
be planted from the start (my current one has plants but substrate is
bad).
I've been reading up on planted tank techniques and recommendations,
but
I have a few questions in regards to maintenance.

I'm leaning towards a fluorite base with a topping of Onyx sand or
Black
Tahitian Moon sand. When you have a sand topping like that, how do you
clean the substrate?

With a cleaning crew for uneaten food, and low ground cover plants for
detritus.

Can you vacuum like you do with gravel?

You can, but it's all plant food, and it's almost impossible to vacuum a
mixed aggregate without mixing them together. I don't recommend mixing
gravel & sand to beginners, unless they expect it to get mixed (and sand
settles under gravel). If your upper substrate was thick enough, you
could maintain them seperate longer.

Or do you
just have to be sure you never over feed :-0.

You never over-feed anyways, but you will need to ensure that your ground
crew (shrimps, corys etc) is eating well enough (ie: occasional sinking
catfish pellet).

Does waste breakdown
better/faster in a planted tank?

Don't know. Bacteria are still breaking it down. The root systems are
carrying it away, instead of your gravel vacuum. To achieve balance, you
cannot have a lot of large fish though. We are talking small fish and/or
modest fish-loads.

Is there any future maintenance that will be needed, like replacing the
topping or reworking the substrate in general?

If the substrate is exposed, then it needs to be cleaned (deep vacuum for
gravel, surface skim for sand as needed), and you need to deal with algae
as it occurs. If the substrate is covered by low plants, then there
isn't much that you can do to it (or would want to).

I've seen some recommendations to slope the substrate so it is lower in
the front, is there a particular reason for this?

Crap rolls downhill, (to the front where it can easily be gravel
vacuumed).

NetMax

Thanks,
Tom