New Aquarium And Substrate

Hi there and welcome to the forum. 

I use jbl aquabasis plus with sand substrate in my tanks. I also use the jbl root balls (which I sometimes cut in half), dotted around when I think plants need a bit of a top up. I use TNC liquid fertiliser and liquid carbon on a regular basis to.

There are a lot of pros and cons to various planting substrates, inert substrates (sand), fertilisers, etc. and quite often it comes down to personal preference for the fish planned for the tank, and the owner.

It is fine to use just sand for live plants, but I would say that you would need root tabs as well, unless you plan to concentrate on things like anubias, java fern, bucephalandra - plants that are attached to decor rather than planted.

When choosing sand make sure it is soft/smooth enough, especially is you are planning on fish that feed in the substrate (such as corydoras sp.). I can't remember which brand it is, but I've bought black sand previously and it was actually quite sharp, to the point that I couldn't use it. Play sand is also a popular substrate.

We love discussing new tanks here, and it's great to hear that you are so keen to get things right. 

What are your plans at the moment? What size tank? What are your water parameters (check on your water suppliers website)? What fish are you considering?

If you post as much information as possible we can provide you with more specific advice.

Looking forward to hearing more about the plans for your new tank. How exciting. 

Hi thanks Littlefish and Sue, I wasn’t expecting such a comprehensive answer... it’s really appreciated.
If you can cope with a long post, here goes.
Ive got a Fluval Roma 240 aquarium set which come with heater, light and filter from Webbs Garden centre, just waiting for it to be delivered tomorrow, eck!!
The sand I’ve got is, Aqua-Substrate, from Maidenhead Aquatics, and it’s very fine, so does that means it would be Ok for the catfish?
I was planning on having both types of plants some planted and some attached to the wood root things I’ve got (can’t remember the name the fish shop guy said it was) and rocks.
As for the water, I’ve checked the water company website and they’ve got a locator tool using my postcode it tells me where my water some from and also that it’s soft then all this stuff, which means nothing to me.
Calcium mgCal/l 10.05
Magnesium mgMg/l 1.36
Hardness as mg/l CaCo3 30.68
Clark degrees 2.15
French degrees 3.07
German degrees 1.72
Hardness level Soft.
So I’m assuming Soft it is?
As for fish, I really don’t want to get over ambitious, so was using the fish compatibility checker on the website and was looking at starting off with zebra danios and just seeing what was compatible with that and a beginner fish keeper, but I do with like the rainbows, gouramis, barbs and I was going to start with just abot 8 danios.
The fish I really loved when I had fish in my teens, I’d named sharkey and yes it was a ruby shark which did OK and seemed to be ok with the other fish I had, but think I might leave that for a while as they don’t really seem to be beginner fish.
I’ve got a test freshwater master test kit, so hopefully that’s an Ok one to use?
Lastly, for now, the guy in the shop said I should get a co2 dispenser, should I and any recommendations?
Thank again and look forward to sharing my adventures with you! 🐠
Any advice on a good selection would be great, or if you think the fish compatibility checker is a good way to go.

Excellent, thanks Sue. This evenings activity will be visiting the website you’ve recommended 😀
As the the lights the Roma has a 14.5w LED lighting system, so maybe no need for co2?
Any tips on what I should be doing to keep lighting, co2 and fertiliser in check? Can I test for these too? 🐠

Nice tank. I find the Fluval Romas very easy to work with because the lid is in sections.

When I first got a tank all the fish I liked were soft water fish, and my water is 17dH 
Luckily I eventually found fish I liked that would cope with my water, but I there are a lot of soft water fish that are beautiful.

I have a mix of plants, and I don't inject CO2. I feel that CO2 is more suitable for seriously aquascaped tanks, where the focus is on the plants rather than the fish. It is also an extra thing to have to worry about when setting up a new tank, so I'd leave it out. Liquid carbon works fine. As for testing CO2 & ferts, again I wouldn't worry about that as you can usually tell if something is not quite right visually. The approach I take is with planting substrate and/or root tabs, plus daily fertiliser and liquid carbon, and not have the lights on for more than 6 hours a day (unless you want to grow algae, which I do in some tanks). I wouldn't say this is the right approach, but it works for me without too much hassle and plant maintenance.

thanks again both, I'd rather keep it as straight forward as possible, so I'll leave out the co2. Settling down now to figure out what fish to go wish and from what you've said I need something that likes a range that covers 39.68 ppm or 1.72 dh.

And thanks to Matt to, I'll let you know when I figure out the first first.

Really informative posts glad I joined, no doubt talk again soon. 🐠

Welcome to the forum

I also have very soft water (even slightly softer than yours). I'm not at all skilled with plant-keeping but I'm tending to find that plants with thicker leaves fare better - the hemiographis colorata which I've had for a couple of months hasn't shown any sign of decay so far (touchwood!).

My LFS (an aquatic chain) has its soft-water fish located together which makes it easier to know where to look (eg numerous species of tetras, corydoras, pencilfish, rams, etc, all at one side of the shop) - you may find that, if yours is set up the same, this provides inspiration. My "rule of thumb" is to see if anything leaps out (hopefully not literally!) as a must-have fish and which causes you to keep thinking about it after your visit; if, on a future visit, you still feel that way about the particular species of fish, then that's probably a sign.