5 substrate tips for freshwater aquariums

5 substrate tips for freshwater aquariums

There are several aspects of a freshwater aquarium that make it look beautiful. One of them is the substrate of the aquarium. For beginners, substrate is the material that is put at the bottom of the aquarium. It is usually sand or gravel. If you don’t have any substrate you can go for a bare bottom of the aquarium but it does not look very beautiful. The freshwater aquatic life that you plan on keeping in the aquarium gets irritated by the glare. The substrate also removes this glare that develops if the aquarium has a bare bottom. Freshwater aquarium substrate is not the same as the saltwater aquarium substrate.

You should pay more attention to the substrate whenever you are setting up a new aquarium. It is a critical feature of any aquarium.  You can go through the five tips below to know more about the substrate.

Tip 1: Before placing your substrate in the freshwater aquarium, you should wash it thoroughly with hot water. It is also important to sterilize the tank completely. The tank should have the required environment. This also refers to the beneficial bacteria. This will make up the environment of the tank.

Tip 2: You should try to give a realistic look to your freshwater aquarium. You should ensure that the level of substrate rises from the front towards the back of the tank. Plants are an integral part of the aquarium. The environment of your aquarium will never be complete unless you put in some good plants. Certain dips and rises in the substrate will give the aquarium a much more realistic look.

Tips 3: Most of the people usually use a limestone substrate. Limestone, the building block of gravel, causes the Ph of water to rise. As a result, the water becomes hard. Once this happens, the aquarium won’t have soft water anymore. Most of the fish have difficulty surviving in the hard water. You can carry out a simple test to know if the water is hard. Add a few drops of vinegar in the aquarium. If the vinegar fizzes out, you will know that the pH of the water has increased and that you should replace the water.

Tip 4: You can add a sub-gravel filter to your freshwater aquariums. For this, you will need a minimum depth of 6cm to 7 cm. Sand is also used as a substrate. However, it needs to be cleaned regularly as the sand gets clogged.

Tip 5: You should take care while replacing the water of the aquarium. You should fill the cup so that the substrate does not get disturbed.

Now that you have quite a lot of information on the substrate used in a freshwater aquarium, you will be able to avoid the problems that would occur otherwise.

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