Hello all. I've had a fish tank for most of my life. Recently I've
decided to create a tank that is mostly plants with some supportive fish.

I've created a substrate that is composed of vermiculite and soil (50/50
and about 2-3 inches deep) topped by about 1/2 inch of general purpose
sand. My plants are growing well and showing good color and my fish
look healthy too. HOWEVER, my substrate has swelled about 1/2 to 1
inch. If I push on it a ton of gas bubbles come out. Is this a bad thing?

Not a biggie..........go to Wal Mart or Walgreens and buy some Bean-O
and toss 2 pill per 10 gal water and the gas will be gone! Rolaids
Soft Chews w/gas relief may also help get rid of that bloated feeling.


On Sun, 17 Jun 2007 22:58:18 -0600, Dax MIckelson
wrote:

Hello all. I've had a fish tank for most of my life. Recently I've
decided to create a tank that is mostly plants with some supportive fish.

I've created a substrate that is composed of vermiculite and soil (50/50
and about 2-3 inches deep) topped by about 1/2 inch of general purpose
sand. My plants are growing well and showing good color and my fish
look healthy too. HOWEVER, my substrate has swelled about 1/2 to 1
inch. If I push on it a ton of gas bubbles come out. Is this a bad thing?

In article ,
Dax MIckelson wrote:
Hello all. I've had a fish tank for most of my life. Recently I've
decided to create a tank that is mostly plants with some supportive fish.

I've created a substrate that is composed of vermiculite and soil (50/50
and about 2-3 inches deep) topped by about 1/2 inch of general purpose
sand. My plants are growing well and showing good color and my fish
look healthy too. HOWEVER, my substrate has swelled about 1/2 to 1
inch. If I push on it a ton of gas bubbles come out. Is this a bad thing?

It's not particularly bad. People still use vermiculite? That's so 80's :-)


(There's no particular advantage to using vermiculite, it's more important
to fertilize properly).




--
Need Mercedes parts? http://parts.mbz.org
Richard Sexton | Mercedes stuff: http://mbz.org
1970 280SE, 72 280SE | Home pages: http://rs79.vrx.net
633CSi 250SE/C 300SD | http://aquaria.net http://killi.net

Richard Sexton wrote:

In article ,
Dax MIckelson wrote:
Hello all. I've had a fish tank for most of my life. Recently I've
decided to create a tank that is mostly plants with some supportive fish.

I've created a substrate that is composed of vermiculite and soil (50/50
and about 2-3 inches deep) topped by about 1/2 inch of general purpose
sand. My plants are growing well and showing good color and my fish
look healthy too. HOWEVER, my substrate has swelled about 1/2 to 1
inch. If I push on it a ton of gas bubbles come out. Is this a bad
thing?

It's not particularly bad. People still use vermiculite? That's so 80's
:-)


(There's no particular advantage to using vermiculite, it's more important
to fertilize properly).





Not vermiculite? That is all I've read about to use. I'm new to
aquascaping. What do you recommend then?

Dax Mickelson wrote:

Richard Sexton wrote:


(There's no particular advantage to using vermiculite, it's more important
to fertilize properly).


Not vermiculite? That is all I've read about to use. I'm new to
aquascaping. What do you recommend then?

EcoComplete.

--
It's turtles, all the way down

"Dax Mickelson" wrote in message
...
Richard Sexton wrote:

In article ,
Dax MIckelson wrote:
Hello all. I've had a fish tank for most of my life. Recently
I've
decided to create a tank that is mostly plants with some supportive
fish.

I've created a substrate that is composed of vermiculite and soil
(50/50
and about 2-3 inches deep) topped by about 1/2 inch of general
purpose
sand. My plants are growing well and showing good color and my
fish
look healthy too. HOWEVER, my substrate has swelled about 1/2 to 1
inch. If I push on it a ton of gas bubbles come out. Is this a
bad
thing?

It's not particularly bad. People still use vermiculite? That's so
80's
:-)


(There's no particular advantage to using vermiculite, it's more
important
to fertilize properly).





Not vermiculite? That is all I've read about to use. I'm new to
aquascaping. What do you recommend then?

There are a number of online articles that might
be helpful. Here is one that I found useful:
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_substrate.htm

I use Profile with gravel over, and it works
well enough. I don't add CO2, use plants that
do well without much fuss (light, fert, etc.), and
I have small jungles in my tanks. Fish are
healthy, monthly partial water changes are
sufficient.

Gail

well well well, wonder of wonders. Gail the idiotic bimbo bitch that
did not have the guts to follow up on becoming a mod for Ron
Schompert. She instead decided to suck Ron and Derejs dick full time
instead.




On Wed, 20 Jun 2007 17:21:29 GMT, "Gail Futoran"
wrote:

"Dax Mickelson" wrote in message
...
Richard Sexton wrote:

In article ,
Dax MIckelson wrote:
Hello all. I've had a fish tank for most of my life. Recently
I've
decided to create a tank that is mostly plants with some supportive
fish.

I've created a substrate that is composed of vermiculite and soil
(50/50
and about 2-3 inches deep) topped by about 1/2 inch of general
purpose
sand. My plants are growing well and showing good color and my
fish
look healthy too. HOWEVER, my substrate has swelled about 1/2 to 1
inch. If I push on it a ton of gas bubbles come out. Is this a
bad
thing?

It's not particularly bad. People still use vermiculite? That's so
80's
:-)


(There's no particular advantage to using vermiculite, it's more
important
to fertilize properly).





Not vermiculite? That is all I've read about to use. I'm new to
aquascaping. What do you recommend then?

There are a number of online articles that might
be helpful. Here is one that I found useful:
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_substrate.htm

I use Profile with gravel over, and it works
well enough. I don't add CO2, use plants that
do well without much fuss (light, fert, etc.), and
I have small jungles in my tanks. Fish are
healthy, monthly partial water changes are
sufficient.

Gail

In article ,
Dax Mickelson wrote:
Richard Sexton wrote:

Not vermiculite? That is all I've read about to use. I'm new to
aquascaping. What do you recommend then?

Well, it's near heresy but mybest performing tanks have 1/2" of manure under 4-5" of fine beach sand.
Into the manure you put some washers and steel wool. Under anaerobic conditions the iron is reduced
and made available to the plants.


Here's a pic of it:

http://images.aquaria.net/plants/Cry...D/Image80s.jpg


--
Need Mercedes parts? http://parts.mbz.org
Richard Sexton | Mercedes stuff: http://mbz.org
1970 280SE, 72 280SE | Home pages: http://rs79.vrx.net
633CSi 250SE/C 300SD | http://aquaria.net http://killi.net

hi richard, i think we have almost the same setup,.i used potting soil under beach sand and my plants are thriving,but i've heard so much negative comments about beachsand in freshwater tank,but i ignored it!mine is working very well!!