What Is Aquatic Plant Substrate In An Aquarium?

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What Is Aquatic Plant Substrate In An Aquarium?
What Is Aquatic Plant Substrate In An Aquarium?

Video: What Is Aquatic Plant Substrate In An Aquarium?

Video: What Is Aquatic Plant Substrate In An Aquarium?
Video: 5 Things I Wish I Knew About Substrates for Planted Aquariums 2024, March
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The aquarium should be organized so that all aquarium plants, with their different needs, can grow healthy. It should also be borne in mind that poorly growing plants and rotting plant parts are ballast for the aquarium. Soil makes a crucial, and still underestimated by many aquarists, contribution to the aquarium system. But he can perform this task only when it is correctly used in the aquarium.

Discussions about aquarium soil have been going on since the inception of aquarism. So far, different opinions have been expressed on the subject of soil and mutually exclusive advice has been given.

There are different views on the question of what role soil quality plays. While one well-known grower says, "The composition of the soil doesn't really matter," another aquarist says, "We need to give the soil special importance."

Soil for aquarium plants, photo photography assortment
Soil for aquarium plants, photo photography assortment

Soil for aquarium plants

It is essential that the aquarist understands how to get the recommended “fine-grained, nutrient-rich soil” in one place, and simply “rich and rich soil” in another.

The addition of peat is assessed both positively and negatively. Quartz gravel is recommended as the main material, from coarse to small, leaf litter is rarely mentioned, in most cases it is still abandoned. Clay as an additive is rated positively by everyone. Fertilizers are rejected by all and in all cases agree that soil containing calcium is rejected. Also, various limestone decorations should be rejected: grottoes, stones and the like, as they increase the hardness of the water.

The task of choosing the right substrate for an aquarium falls into three parts:

1. Suitable material.

2. Movement of water and metabolism in the ground.

3. Thermal balance of the aquarium.

The starting point for understanding the soil is the study of natural biotopes. Here we can distinguish between coarse soil structure material and fine substances between this material. On the ground, we can also observe structural differences between aquarium and natural aquatic plants.

In the aquarium, the space for root development is limited and is hermetically sealed from all sides. If no special measures are taken, then the groundwater stands still, unlike natural biotopes, where plant roots are constantly washed by groundwater both horizontally and vertically.

However, there are not only structural differences, but also differences in the composition of the soil, even for plants of the same family or species.

Aquatic plants such as Cryptocorynes can grow in gravelly soil, between large and small stones, in silt and clay, but also among the intertwined roots of other plants and in marsh soil formed by the remains of leaves and plants. When you try to pull out a plant from a soil consisting of coarse or fine gravel, a large amount of clay suspension is released, this is an iron-containing clay sediment that accumulates over time and represents a great potential for nutrients.

An aquarist who has seen at least once the roots of aquarium plants taken directly from a natural reservoir will note another feature that he is unlikely to recognize in an aquarium: all plants have brown to red-brown roots. They are saturated with red-brown iron-humus deposits.

Soil for aquarium plants, photo photography assortment
Soil for aquarium plants, photo photography assortment

Soil for aquarium plants

The following rough structures are registered in natural waters:

1. Rough pebbles and stones with a diameter of 10-50 mm.

2. Gravel, sharp gravel, pebbles and stones with a diameter of 0.5-10 mm.

3. A mixture of clay and sand.

4. Swamp silt bog soil.

5. Interlacing of roots.

There can be transitional forms between all types. Of decisive importance is, above all, the fine material between the coarse fraction and applied there by the current. This fine material is, in fact, a source of soil nutrients. The soils of tropical water plants are very different from the soils of aquariums, the supply of nutrients in them is incomparably higher than in the soil of the aquarium, but they also grow various marsh and aquatic plants that are successfully kept in aquariums.

What should be the substrate for aquarium plants?
What should be the substrate for aquarium plants?

Related article What should be the substrate for aquarium plants?

The substrate should control heat exchange in the aquarium, ensuring water exchange between itself and water. For this it is necessary, firstly, to repeat in the aquarium the natural horizontal and vertical movements of water in the ground in such a way as to ensure an even distribution of nutrients, as well as drainage of plant secretions. This slows down the aging process of the soil and, more importantly, prevents its acidification.

Secondly, you need to pay attention to the soil temperature. It should not be significantly lower than the water temperature. Plants should not have “cold feet”. This problem is solved by heating the ground in conjunction with the general heating of the aquarium or using a heating cable that is laid directly in the ground. Such heating gives a special and very useful physical effect for the aquarium: warm water rises. This easily achieves a good washing of the soil and repeats the ground movement of water existing in natural waters. All soluble substances are set in motion and distributed accordingly: either removed or supplied. Not only nutrients, but also oxygen, which is necessary for plant roots during the light period, enters the soil.

"Aquarium. Aquatic Plants ". V. Mikhailov

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