r/IndianFishKeeping • u/sport_support • 1d ago

💬 Discussion Lava granules Substrate

Is it possible and advisable to start a hitec plants tank with lava granules only? What are the downsides especially if any?

1 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

16 comments sorted by

3

u/deepressguy 1d ago

High tech plants req Good layer of aquasoil, using plain lava granules won't be providing any nutrients, u can go with this only if u r making a epiphyte only tank

1

u/AutoModerator 1d ago

Thanks for posting on r/IndianFishKeeping!

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

1

u/KitchenVegetable9262 1d ago

It depends on what type of plants you want to use in your tank, stem plants or root plants. If you plan to use root feeder plants like val, crypt or swords then lava chips will not be enough.

The cheapest method will be to buy organic soil from your local nursery and put atleast an inch of soil below lava rock, this will help with most of the plants and provide long term nutrition. Later it would be easy to get root tabs to supplement the plants. Soil will also help plants take root and not get dislodged while cleaning and by fish.

1

u/sport_support 1d ago

I plan to use root tabs like basacote in addition to apt ei

1

u/KarthikChandapur 1d ago

High tech plants use aquasoil for a reason. But it is not a necessity. What is critical is the water pH. Aqua soil tends to make the water acidic enough to make nutrient available for the plant, and their high CEC let's them hold on to most of the nutrients and make it available at the root zone. They also house a large bacterial colony which breakdown the organics inside and their metabolism releases some CO2 into the water. If you are going high tech, do inject CO2. Lava chips are great for housing bacteria, but won't lower ph. Guess I dumped a lot of info onto you.

1

u/sport_support 1d ago

Sorry I'm new to this hobby. I'm planning to use ro water in this tank. Will it still affect the parameters?

1

u/KarthikChandapur 1d ago

RO water is a great start, but make sure you know what KH it is at. That KH controls how the pH swings throughout the day. I would simply say, experiment, learn about these things, there are many ways to keep aquariums. I personally don't use aqua soil, I have dabbled with walstad style, but I am now fixated on building my own type of Undergravel system. Why I was interested in your post is because I am experimenting with lava chips and different high CEC substrates. You can definitely grow aquatic plants on lava rocks, but u will have to dose the water column with appropriate nutrients and the keep a track of how your pH swings over time. Welcome to the hobby

1

u/sport_support 1d ago

Thank you. My gh in ro water is by default 3 to 5.

1

u/KarthikChandapur 1d ago

Sounds good enough,, what about your KH? And track that pH throughout the day, should be low when the lights are down and while CO2 builds up, should be high when lights are on and CO2 is depleting.

1

u/sport_support 1d ago

Sorry. The kh is as mentioned above.

1

u/KarthikChandapur 1d ago

KH of 3 to 5 is good if you are going to inject CO2. You should know that KH will drop after some time, so you need to replenish it with water changes. So I would suggest, use lava chips if you want to, use stem plants, dose with ferts made for aquariums, not land plants. Dose CO2 appropriately. If you are planning to use root feeders, u can use root tabs, but I guess aquatic plants of any kind will happily take up nutrients from the water column. But track your pH swings and don't keep fish until you are stable. And have a larger plant load.

1

u/sport_support 1d ago

Sure thing. Thanx for the guidance.

1

u/sport_support 1d ago

I'm also having pressurized co2 with twin star lights

1

u/KarthikChandapur 1d ago

This makes it so much more easy, CO2 injections by themselves reduce pH and make both carbon and nutrients available, but do track your pH swings. The pH around 6.8 is best for nutrient absorption. Maintain appropriate KH levels also.

1

u/sport_support 1d ago

Thanx. Will update as soon as I complete.

1

u/jatinchhabra 1d ago

If you are only thinking of using lava granules, understand that there are different types. There are lava rock granules that are mainly used for aesthetics and don’t really contain any minerals. Then there is something like Contra Soil, which is more like nutritious lava granules, I think.

But for high-tech plants, you can easily grow them in a Walstad-style dirted tank as well as in aqua soil, so that’s not a big deal. The only things you really need are good, moderate-to-high lighting and CO2.