I think that's the reason too. Any sudden change can break the balance. I learn that the hard way, and I'm still battling with the annoying blue green algae/bacteria.

I agree substrate can make a huge difference in the set up of an aquascape, and help with the overall stability of the set up. I have tanks with very course gravel (mainly due to the cost as it is a 300gal) and a long standing set-up which also has similar course gravel and both have no algae but I do have an army of clean up crew who get all the left overs. I also feed every other day so the next day they have the opportunity to get all the food that was missed. Good flow is also important and lighting on a timer and consistent water changes (consistency mainly) all play into a stable system. .But I have tanks with sand (a resent setup in my fishroom provided the importance of a good substrate from the beginning) I used some aqauasoil mix from other tanks and topped with new fluval aqasoil and Seachem black sand and I've had nothing but trouble. So I agree - having the correct layers course to fines on top seems to be a good way of keeping algae away.

Yep. Not only this, but he was moving the gravel too much to removes algaes, which unirocally were bringing all the waste back to the water.

I think part of it is that in nature you don't find patches of gravel that are exactly the same size that go down to a solid bottom in nature, I used a river gravel that has every size from sand to about pea size mixed together (like a real river) and it worked out really well. I get the benefits of sand but the look of a gravel bed and not only that but the size variation made it look more natural and I think it helped the plants root a lot better than regular sand or gravel. Its really hard to buy that though so you may have to get it yourself which may be illegal in some places, where I am its illegal to harvest sand and gravel from rivers because on large scales it is really damaging. I am quite lazy though so i tend to prefer aquariums that are heavily planted with slower growing plants that I dont need to trim and I like to have wood and a few leaves since I find that it builds a healthy community of microorganisms that feed my fish for me. If possible I like to try and make something sustainable that I dont need to feed very often, I can easily go a month without feeding my 29 gallon without any risk. Feeding less also seems to make it easier to keep fish alive for longer but at the cost of slower growing and for me thats a worthy trade since id rather get a few more years out of the fish then have it get to full size as fast as possible. Goes without saying though that my tanks are a bit under stocked but I prefer that over lots of maintenance.

He has a video in wich he builds this setup. Most of the substrate is some sort of an aqua-soil (i.e. fertilized soil). A small amount of gravel was added on top of that, only as a decoration, and only on visible areas. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/mM9pg6R_3bzYZmQ.htmlsi=TlSJ508pWOIbasRD So there's likely a constant flow of nutrients from the bottom, too big for the plants to handle. Water parameters look about ok, maybe because the algae is quickly absorbing everything, and at the same time robbing most CO2. But anyway, you are right, sand would do a better job (if spread metculously) in this case too; it would cap the soil better, making it available mainly for the plant roots.

I am glad to hear that! Thank you :)

Thanks :)

🙌

🙌

I think it was for an auto doser for the liquid ferts.

Because you want to throttle the plants growth so all the nutrients are used by the plants instead of the algae.

Indeed 😅

It is really cute😂 It doesn’t seem to be bothering it at all, I think that snail feels fancy

🤪