# CaribSea Flora Max substrate



## SenseiTion (Jun 1, 2015)

Im trying to grow plants in my aquarium and just bought the flora max midnight substrate.

Does the substrate last forever? Or does it need replacing every x years?


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## Blackheart (Jul 5, 2011)

It definitely needs to be replaced after a certain amount of time. Not sure how many years it takes though. Maybe a couple?


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## umarnasir335 (Mar 2, 2014)

No, floramax is just hard clay- based gravel, so it doesn't deteriorate and break down over time. I set up my 20 long last year with it and so far it's been good. Make sure to fertilize it with root tabs yourself however, because it has very little nutrients for plants to begin with.


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## grizzly_a (Sep 9, 2014)

You will be fine. Add some root tabs and you'll have a great substrate for years. It's the dirty little cousin of Eco-Complete Planted.



Blackheart said:


> It definitely needs to be replaced after a certain amount of time. Not sure how many years it takes though. Maybe a couple?


It's black crushed lava rock. What is the timeline for when lava rock depletes it's mineral content? Does it cease to be a rock? 



umarnasir335 said:


> No, floramax is just hard clay- based gravel, so it doesn't deteriorate and break down over time. I set up my 20 long last year with it and so far it's been good. Make sure to fertilize it with root tabs yourself however, because it has very little nutrients for plants to begin with.


FloraMax "Original" is hard clay based. The "Midnight" that the OP bought is crushed lava rock and not clay.


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## Blackheart (Jul 5, 2011)

grizzly_a said:


> It's black crushed lava rock. What is the timeline for when lava rock depletes it's mineral content? Does it cease to be a rock?



I have no idea. I simply meant for the purpose of after a couple years whatever nutrients it has will probably run out I'm guessing.


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## Loumeer (Feb 13, 2012)

Lava rock is just laval rock. Just put some soil tabs underneath.


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## jasonpatterson (Apr 15, 2011)

One thing to be careful of is contamination. If you're putting this in a pH sensitive environment, try it in a bowl of water first. Let the water sit for a day or so to degas and come to equilibrium with your house, then measure the pH, add some washed substrate, and wait. Measure the pH daily for a while.

It's a pain in the butt to do, but if you've got pH sensitive species, it can save you a lot of trouble. I lost a ton of baby shrimp to it a few years ago when mine was contaminated with some carbonate mineral (limestone or similar.) I really like the look of it, and plants seem to do well in it, but I wouldn't use it with anything that wants low pH. I do still use it in an RCS tank.


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