Aquaclay

[Fugushima]

So, my babyfahaka is dead, probably by dropsy:(

Anyway I had just purchased his new home, a 520 l aquarium but not yet moved him so I thought I'll do it the right way this time. I'm changing the silicone in my new aquarium, (not "new from the store new" but more like "new to me but in reallity 10 yrs old") and a architect-friend of mine came by and expressed some concerns on whether my floor would break or not when I fill the aquarium. I will ask an engineer about this but I started thinking about how to keep it as light as possible.

We have this really cool, special fishstore where I live. The owner learnt german just to be able to read aquarium magazines and keeps like 50% of the store just for breeding on rare species. This is not where you go to buy neontetras or guppys, and the tanks are really well done biotope aquariums.

Anyway the owner uses a substrate called aquaclay and he really really recommends it to everyone. Its made out of burnt clay and is apparently has very high porosity, the bacterias love it and there is no problem with oxygendeficiency. And best of all, its lightweight, it weighs like 1/3 of any other gravel and cheap.

I had it in ny crab aquarium but changed it to sand as my crab seemed to think that it was very hard to run around in. He looked kind of like I would running around in ball pit

Sooo...my question is what do you guys think? I didn't have my fahaka for very long but he slept on the substrate, as a juvie that wouldn't be a problem but when it gets bigger it will probably move the substrate around a lot. Could it be a problem or am I overthinking things? I think leaves are very decorative and they would go well with the color but do they change the PH? We have very soft water and I am thinking about buying a KH increaser, or is there any way to increase KH without the chemicals?

Thank you for your help
Laura

[RTR]

The baked clay is ordinarily harmless and has been used for aquarium (and hydroponic) substrates for a long time, especially for planted tanks.

Some of such material is pretty sharp-edged and potentially hazardous to a puffer who buries itself.

[Tonke]

Hi Laura!

I can't give u a good hint if aquaclay is good for a fahaka... but i can recommend blasting sand (bläster sand), a really fine sand .02mm .
My fahaka just love to burrow itself in it... but i assume your crabs wouldn't love it at all

You can fetch it at Jula homedepart store really cheap and it's safe to use.