Best substrate for Oscars?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Yeah, Mr. T. That looks awesome! Nice O's.


I get that stuff at Lowe's for 3.99. The bag says it contains 1/2 of a cubic foot, but that's misleading. It's enough gravel to fill a 2gal bucket. It's in the gardening section. I think they call it "large pea gravel" or something like that. It does seem to buffer my water a little, though. The pH doesn't go up above 7.6 but it's EXTREMELY stable.

You might not need a bigger filter, perhaps just more stages. I have one HOB that's just mechanical and two that are pretty much just bio. The powerhead gets the poo to go into the filters and it collects where it collects. Ideally, I'd have a mechanical prefilter on my bio, but so far so good. It's been working this way for me for five years now. But I also like the option of actually removing the poo by hand when I see it instead of letting it break down and contribute to nitrate creep. I am part of my filtration. :)
 
Wretched5705;4183125; said:
maybe its not an issue of my substrate then and my actual filtration, i have a rena xp3 running on the 120 and thats it, should I just upgrade to something bigger?
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thats all i have running on mine as well, you just have to lower the intake as much as it will go and then make sure to clean it every now and then so that it doesn't get clogged which for me is just when the spray bar starts to slow a bit which is usually every 3weeks or so (i also don't have the inside set-up like they say, i have filter sponges in the top portion of the top box and then bio-filtration in the bottom portion and all of the middle portion and then the bottom container is all sponges again. i personally love the XP3 i have had this one for as long as iv had the tank (like 8-10yrs if not longer) and haven't had to replace a single piece. i am thinking about adding a second one though but that's more for having more aeration in the top and circulation purposes than actual filtration (though that's a plus lol)
 
BODYDUB;4183158; said:
I bought this gravel at my local petsmart to hide the poop as well, but I still do weekly w/cs. I think it looks pretty good...............
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im actually liking the look of that Bodydub.... think ill swing by petsmart and crunch some numbers
 
Having poop sitting on top of the substrate is 100x better than having it all in the substrate where it is far more difficult to take out. I have had gravel in my 220g since I set it up last June and I hate it.
 
looking good, n looks like your O is enjoying digging it up already :)
 
Having poop sitting on top of the substrate is 100x better than having it all in the substrate where it is far more difficult to take out. I have had gravel in my 220g since I set it up last June and I hate it.
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I'm on your boat.
 
drgnfrc13;4185649; said:
Having poop sitting on top of the substrate is 100x better than having it all in the substrate where it is far more difficult to take out. I have had gravel in my 220g since I set it up last June and I hate it.
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yeah thats how i am too, i like the look better as well (of the sand, not the poop lol) but i used to always have gravel but when i moved and had to take down my tank i figured id try sand when setting it back up and i would never do gravel in a tank again, but its all a matter of personal preference i guess, some people just like gravel better
 
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