The Best Substrate? Why and How I Mix Substrate for Long Term Success 

So comprehensive!! You’re content is first class. Much appreciated!!!

I'm very biased, and I'm with you 100%. I've always found a high quality aqua soil (ADA, Fluval stratum, Brightwell, insert brand here) on top of an Eco complete & Fluorite Red (sparingly) layer to be my preference. Basically it comes down to CEC and the degree of calcination of the clay base materials. That's the issue, to really understand the topic, you need a basic understanding of the chemistry. Then straight sand where I don't intend to plant anything :) I've been able to grow everything from H.C Cuba, to Crypt's, Helferi, Repens, Stellata, & Vallisneria in that mix. It's just a good base for a wide variety of species. But like you said, there are umpteen ways to do this. Plants are resilient and anything from raw play-sand through to potting soil "can" work; depending on how they are used and what plant species is being kept.

Such helpful video! Thanks

To add extra enriched soil into older established soil you could also put fresh aquasoil in ice cube trays with some water and freeze it. Then just insert the dirted ice cubes into the substrate

Loved this stream! I’ve learned a lot today. 👍🏽

@36:00 I have set up 2 bags of Amazonia V2 (18L)+ ADA power sand advanced M 6L per each of my 75 gallon tanks (have a bunch). Running Fluval fx6. 90% water change daily borrowing water from my 300 gal tank. Filter is seachem matrix (the bucket) + 8 caps of seachem stability (all new media). Other than using water from the 300 gal... nothing else. Day 1 - Day 5 and then day 6 it registered basically zero ammonia. I tried to set up refugiums (well I did) while bypassing them and filling refugiums with my well water. Daily water changes 90%... takes 2 weeks running nothing but 2 air stones dropped into 50 gal refugium (of which I have 4). After 2 weeks it finally read 0 for ammonia. So my advice to whomever... is to use tank water to cycle your ammonia out from your other established tanks. Basically. If you do like 50% water changes using tap/well... it will take weeks and months. Aggressive and persistent. That's my advice there. All my 75 gal tanks now run same quantity (5 tanks) and my 300 gal 4 refugiums (50 gal each) also run same amount. That ammonia is a pain with a capital P if you are cycling with regular water.

thanks for the video, Bentley. good points. I might add head height with regards to selecting a pump for water changes.

Great livestream! There was so much useful information, and it was so well explained. This needs to be added to your substrate playlist.

Sorry I missed the livestream, I had to go grocery shopping and didn't get back in time. It's funny I was going to ask you about a video on this topic, I wasn't sure if you had done one already. When I was in this in the 60's our aquariums were very basic. Our substrate in our tanks was crushed granite, which we fed to our chickens for their crops. Our few plants were the Banana plant and Madagascar Lace. Not much else. When I started up again a few years back, I started with Fluorite, in Black. Yep it was a learning curve! So I want to try Amazonia soils but I also like to occasionally eat, so I never bought any. Now I am using a sand cap over worm castings. I like it a lot, but I am sure at some point in the future I will be up to my elbows in mud, swearing at myself! I recently started up a 55 gallon Community tank. One half is Red Fluorite and the other half is Sand over Worm Castings. It is a curiosity thing I am doing. The only plants I have at the moment is a lot of Buce. After I put it in it just blew up (for Buce) all of the plants have multiple new leaves. I'm planting both areas to see if I will get better plant growth on one side. Bentley part of the challenge we have here, is there is only one aquarium shop that carries a great selection of substrate but I will not deal with them because they are really careless with their fish and do not care for the fish in a proper manner. This video has really been helpful!! One thing I found downstairs is that my Dark Water 30 gallon with playground sand capping worm castings, is that I have four extremely large shrimp in with Six Bronze Cory's four Khuli Loaches and assorted plants. The sand is spotless, I hardly ever have to vacuum it. Shrimp may be why? In a fifteen I have with Fluorite I put 20 Amano Shrimp in it because the sand had a lot of detritus on it. In three weeks, it was cleaned right up. Where was I going with this....oh yeah! I have a limited selection of substrate available, but there is always or almost always a way to adapt a substrate in my opinion and experience but!!!! One day I will stretch the budget to buy some Substrate that I really want to try but for now I just get what I can find and no Clown Vomit!! Thanks man!

Great stream.

hello i agree! i just have some regular H.E.L.P substrate and my plants are insane with color and mass!! don't overthink it or overspend it!

The lightbulb moment for me regarding substrates was my realization that the best growing mediums for commercial greenhouse growing (whether hydroponic or terrestrial setup) are inert materials that provide no nutrients. There is all this talk about providing "nutrient rich" substrates for plants, yet the most experienced growers who grow for profit do not grow in ultra nutrient rich compost, but rather inert peat moss/coir/perlite/rockwool/LECA. The nutrients are provided in the water, and the substrate is the "home" for the plant roots. It does not need to provide nutrients, but rather a good material to anchor the plant and provide the ideal balance of water/aeration to the roots. That brings me to my other point, which is that oxygen content at the root zone in our aquariums is often neglected. Plant roots need oxygen and thrive off of oxygen, and a nutrient rich substrate without a plenum or UGF will deplete itself of oxygen at the root zone from decomposing organic matter, causing poor root health and eventual poor plant health. An anoxic layer towards the bottom of the substrate is ideal, but anaerobic conditions should be minimized. I think we need less focus on nutrients and more focus on grain size/water flow/CEC capacity of substrate materials. I play around with substrates a lot, but one of my current favorite mixtures is an inert mix of Safe-T-Sorb, lava rock, peat, and a small layer of leonardite at the bottom. I also run a low-flow UGF to establish anoxic conditions and run my substrates quite deep at 3-6". I really only dose Iron, Potassium, and the occasional micros. Plant health and root growth is phenomenal with moderate growth due to the CO2 at ~10-15ppm and Nitrates

I would love to sit in on one of your presentations. Do you ever come out to the East Coast? How about the South of the East Coast? You ever go to the Daytona Aquashella? I enjoy your videos.

Mmmmm, substrate milkshake

If I don't like the look of the brown balls (Stratum) as the top surface layer would 2 inches of Stratum topped with 1.5 - 2 inches of Eco-complete work well?

What do you think about putting the aqua soil in mesh bags with a med course sand ? MD fish tanks dose it , just wondering your thoughts?

👍❤👍

Looks like that tank could use a top up

soy bad