starting a 10g npt need a little help. - El Natural

vangster · 05-15-2012, 02:11 PM

Hi
was going to start a 10g npt but i wanted to use fluorite substrate instead of soil this time. Have anyone try fluorite substrate? will it work for a npt? and what kind of light should i use? my cover have a two little double light 15w each.

Skizhx · 05-16-2012, 05:02 AM

The reason soil works well is because it's made of decomposing organic matter. Also, the chemistry is rather different due to the organic content and constant decomposition.

Flourite has nutrients in it, but not nearly like soil does.

I've attempted NPT with only flourite substrate in a 29gal once. It wasn't bad, but I found myself using root tabs, which actually made for a pretty nice and fairly low maintenance setup either way.

Regardless, I much prefer soil over fluorite only. It's much cheaper, too.

vangster · 05-16-2012, 11:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skizhx

The reason soil works well is because it's made of decomposing organic matter. Also, the chemistry is rather different due to the organic content and constant decomposition.

Flourite has nutrients in it, but not nearly like soil does.

I've attempted NPT with only flourite substrate in a 29gal once. It wasn't bad, but I found myself using root tabs, which actually made for a pretty nice and fairly low maintenance setup either way.

Regardless, I much prefer soil over fluorite only. It's much cheaper, too.

will this work if i go bottom 1'' soil and top with flourite 1''?

Skizhx · 05-16-2012, 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vangster

will this work if i go bottom 1'' soil and top with flourite 1''?

That's what I'm using now, actually... 2 months in, no problems. Fingers crossed...

vangster · 05-16-2012, 08:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skizhx

That's what I'm using now, actually... 2 months in, no problems. Fingers crossed...

really? imma give it a try too then. wise me luck too hehe

Skizhx · 05-17-2012, 04:59 AM

I see no reason why it should make any difference myself. I looked into it for quite awhile. To clarify I'm using the fluorite black sand. The regular fluorite would probably be preferable, but yeah. So far I'm happy with the results. Roots are growing in strong and deep.

I should mention though that at some point if I ever take this tank down, I really haven't considered how I'm going to separate the fluorite sand from the soil to reuse... So that might be something to consider

vangster · 05-17-2012, 03:06 PM

Thanks for the reply you are very helpful and if i ever going to redo my tank i just going to buy everything over agian cuzz i know is going to to hard to separate it. Just bought 2 natural daylight 10w light cfl 6500k i hope it work good.

Inkling · 05-19-2012, 07:08 PM

I've got two 10 gallons which were partially NPT, using flourite as the substrate. They are okay, but not great to say the least. The plants are growing slowly, but not nearly as well as they should be.

I'm going to be switching to a real walstad type NPT with soil in about a week, once I buy the soil and better lights and more plants,because I think it'll be better all around.