Floramax?

Has anyone used CaribSea's Floramax? It was like $10 at PetSmart so I grabbed the last bag, but I'm wondering if I need to mix it with something else or use root tabs as well.

Im not a plant person but I found this: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Some quotes from the user on the other forum:
"Con-
Very light, hard to clean the substrate without taking in a few pieces of the substrates. Also hard to plant in at first.
Coarse, You can't keep cories on this stuff."


"In the end I do suggest this substrate as a budget alternative to flourite or eco-comp. I also suggest mixing at least 1:5 sand:floramax ratio to make planting easier. "

Do you think I could add about a 1/2 inch of sand over the top? Is that enough to protect the cories?

I would say no. I am also thinking of setting up a planted tank with about 5-6 rare Corys, and try my hand at breeding them. I have read that you want round substrate, meaning small round pebbles or your sand should be round, nothing with sharp edges due to the Corys constant digging and rummaging through the substrate.

@madness What are thinking of using for your tank? It seems like a lot of the plant substrates out there are rough.

SerenityNow wrote:@madness What are thinking of using for your tank? It seems like a lot of the plant substrates out there are rough.

I have not got that far yet. Go to the members icon above, click it and find Seattle Aquarist. Send him a pm, asking these exact questions. He IMO is a plant guru.

I've been using fluorite sand/gravel mix in my 140 for 5 years. in my 30 gallon a mix of Eco complete with river gravel on top. In my 140 I've raised clown loaches from 1 inch to 6 inches (they have barb like whiskers). In the 30 there is a shoal of Cory cats. I haven't had issue with either products.

Hmmmmmm. Decisions decisions.

I will ask Seattle Aquarist for help.

Hi All,

SerenityNow contacted me and asked about substrates for planted tanks; and specifically substrates that can be used with Corys. I have kept Corys for about 50 years and I have never had any issue with their barbells/whiskers. The only time I have seen a problem with Cory whiskers was when a tank had been grossly overfed, bacteria had proliferated, and the Corys lost their whiskers to fungus infection.

I used to use Monterrey Sand (natural gravel) available at most of our LFS. It is relatively smooth and plants root in it well. It is inert so ferts are required for good plant growth. For the last several years I have been using varieties of Montmorillonite clay as the substrate in my planted tanks. It isn't as quite as smooth as the Monterrey Sand but my Corys have had no problems. I have never used the black 'blasting grit' that looks like glass so I cannot tell you if it is safe with Corys or not.
Montmorillonite clay has a high CEC index and plants do very well in it. Currently I have been using Safe-T-Sorb #7941 in my planted tanks. It has a nice natural color, a variety of grain sizes, and plants root well in it. It is dusty and requires a good cleaning prior to first using it. It is available online at Drillspot for $9.29 per 40# bag with free shipping included.
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Here is a picture of my 10 gallon, with Safe-T-Sorb substrate. This tank has no CO2, just Flourish Comprehensive and Flourish Excel. The baby Corys have been in there for over 3 months and have doubled in size.
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I am currently using the red version of this in my 55 g and sofar so good i heard it was a good brand and i choose the red because i never saw the red before and it looks great. The plants have all seem to stay well rooted. Has anyone used it for a long period?

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@Seattle_Aquarist How many inches of substrate would you recommend? I'm going to be planting a 55 gallon tank soon. And thanks again for your help!

SerenityNow wrote:@Seattle_Aquarist How many inches of substrate would you recommend? I'm going to be planting a 55 gallon tank soon. And thanks again for your help!

Hi SerenityNow,

I typically put about 2" of substrate in my tanks; I like to slope it slightly from 1.5" in the front to 2.5" in the back. A 40# bag of Saf-T-Sorb #7941 will cover the requirements of your 55 gallon with no problems.

so is that essentially just un fired turface?

Hi Daniel,

Actually, Saf-T-Sorb is a Montmorillonite calcined ('fired') clay product just like Turface with a little more variety in grain sizes and colors.

Do you know where I can get some in a darker color? The tan and grey is nice but I would like something a bit darker if I can find some.

Should I add anything when I first plant it, like root tabs, or are liquid fertilizers enough?

Hi SerenityNow,

Some folks 'pre-load' this type of substrate (high CEC) with nutrients but I like to have some idea of the level of nutrients in my tank so I don't. I will occasionally add a plant tab under my crypts but most of my ferts are added to the water column.

Monmorillonite calcined clays come in many colors, most of the time sort of a buff tan. There used to be two inexpensive types on the market that were grey, Soilmaster Select Charcoal and Turface Pro League Grey....unfortunately they have both been discontinued. Now the only grey type that I am aware of is aquariumplants.com Aquadurt in the Black Diamond color. However it is substantially more expensive, about 32 times more expensive than Saf-T-Sorb based upon price and volume.

Seattle_Aquarist wrote:Now the only grey type that I am aware of is aquariumplants.com Aquadurt in the Black Diamond color. However it is substantially more expensive, about 32 times more expensive than Saf-T-Sorb based upon price and volume.

Yeah I don't want a dark substrate that badly.

I'll definitely be trying this out in my new tank. Thanks so much for the help!