Substrate Depth

[Captain Hook]

Hey guys I will be setting up a 20H soon with Profile as the substrate. I was wondering about the needed depth for the plants I am planning on growing. The species I have in mind right now are Sagitteria subulata (dwarf sag), anubias nana in the front and Egeria densa (elodea), Asian ambulia, and Hydrocotyle leucocephala in the back.

If I some areas are only 1.5 - 2" deep will that be enough depth for the roots? If not, which plants will a deeper bottom? I have enough of this Profile but was planning on doing some different layering or heights.

[DIYMatt]

IMO, for the plants you listed here should be fine with as little as 2" of substrate. I wouldn't go much less than that, in case you want to add different plants later. The plants I have found that prefer more substrate are the bigger root feeders, like swords, Apons, and even tiger lotus.

Just a couple words of advice with Profile: It is very light, I ended up putting a layer of flourite over my profile because it didn't hold the plants down very well and some would get sucked up by the gravel vac even during light vacuuimng. You could also just use small size river gravel to "cap" the proflie to save even more money. Second, it is very dusty, rinse it very well and find a way to pour the water into your tank as slowly as possible to minimze the fine particles in the water.