Red Clay Substrate
By Ben VanDinther
Jan/Feb 2007, Issue #38
Red plants are all the buzz on the planted aquarium websites and in the magazines. Red plants, or green plants with a reddish hue, add richness and depth to a planted aquarium. Of course the red ones have to be more difficult, all the cool stuff is.
I have messed around with some of the additives used to keep red plants red but most of them are complicated and take way more dedication than I have, especially when my corals are ready to split or my yellow labs have a mouthful. So, I needed to find a way to keep things red and keep things simple!
About four years ago I read an article about using cat litter as base substrate and experimented with this to some success. Crypts developed substantial root systems and multiplied quickly and my swords grew dense foliage. But what about red?
Then a friend of mine gave me a bag of red raw potters clay, the powdered variety. I thought, red clay means iron, and most of the additives for red plants are iron based.
In January of 2006, I set up a 55 gallon tank. The substrate was a layer of 25 pounds of cat litter mixed with about 10 pounds of red potters clay. This was capped off with 25 pounds of traction sand. This substrate base ended up about 4 or 5 inches thick, which seemed about right for root development.
I added a variety of plants, including a red ozelot sword that was about 5 inches tall. At the time, it was red mainly by name although it did have slight reddish hue to it. After 1 year all of the plants are doing very well and growing thick. The red ozelot sword has almost outgrown the tank. Almost all of its leaves are now a rich burgundy color. This month I added a red melon sword and am looking for that next red plant.
The tank is set up very low tech. The only filter is a HOT magnum. It is heated with a 300w heater. A double lamp fluorescent normal output aquarium hood with Sylvania Gro-Lux bulbs that are changed every time they burn out provides light. Water changes are between 5 and 10 percent two or three times a year or month depending.
As you can tell, my maintenance techniques are less than ideal. Still, the tank is thriving. Plants are thick and fish are healthy. The red is RED! THE END