| There are several aspects of a freshwater | | | | integral part of the aquarium. The environment of |
| aquarium that make it look beautiful. One of them | | | | your aquarium will never be complete unless you |
| is the substrate of the aquarium. For beginners, | | | | put in some good plants. Certain dips and rises in |
| substrate is the material that is put at the bottom | | | | the substrate will give the aquarium a much more |
| of the aquarium. It is usually sand or gravel. If you | | | | realistic look. |
| don't have any substrate you can go for a bare | | | | Tips 3: Most of the people usually use a limestone |
| bottom of the aquarium but it does not look very | | | | substrate. Limestone, the building block of gravel, |
| beautiful. The freshwater aquatic life that you plan | | | | causes the Ph of water to rise. As a result, the |
| on keeping in the aquarium gets irritated by the | | | | water becomes hard. Once this happens, the |
| glare. The substrate also removes this glare that | | | | aquarium won't have soft water anymore. Most |
| develops if the aquarium has a bare bottom. | | | | of the fish have difficulty surviving in the hard |
| Freshwater aquarium substrate is not the same | | | | water. You can carry out a simple test to know if |
| as the saltwater aquarium substrate. | | | | the water is hard. Add a few drops of vinegar in |
| You should pay more attention to the substrate | | | | the aquarium. If the vinegar fizzes out, you will |
| whenever you are setting up a new aquarium. It | | | | know that the pH of the water has increased and |
| is a critical feature of any aquarium. You can go | | | | that you should replace the water. |
| through the five tips below to know more about | | | | Tip 4: You can add a sub-gravel filter to your |
| the substrate. | | | | freshwater aquariums. For this, you will need a |
| Tip 1: Before placing your substrate in the | | | | minimum depth of 6cm to 7 cm. Sand is also |
| freshwater aquarium, you should wash it | | | | used as a substrate. However, it needs to be |
| thoroughly with hot water. It is also important to | | | | cleaned regularly as the sand gets clogged. |
| sterilize the tank completely. The tank should | | | | Tip 5: You should take care while replacing the |
| have the required environment. This also refers to | | | | water of the aquarium. You should fill the cup so |
| the beneficial bacteria. This will make up the | | | | that the substrate does not get disturbed. |
| environment of the tank. | | | | Now that you have quite a lot of information on |
| Tip 2: You should try to give a realistic look to | | | | the substrate used in a freshwater aquarium, you |
| your freshwater aquarium. You should ensure that | | | | will be able to avoid the problems that would |
| the level of substrate rises from the front | | | | occur otherwise. |
| towards the back of the tank. Plants are an | | | | |