I'm thinking of just getting pool filter sand since it'll be easy on the fish and I like a natural look and the plant substrates are rather ugly and expensive, and mineralized substrate is also ugly and I don't think I'll be able to move things around if I need to without brutalizing the roots. But I have pool filter sand already in some of my smaller, sparsely planted tanks and it seems too compacted and heavy to grow anything that well. Even with root tabs and good lighting and easy plants.
Maybe I'm just doing something wrong... Can I get decent results with pool sand for low light plants with root tabs, water column dosing and DIY CO2? Or is it just going to end up smothering roots no matter what?
Maybe I'm just doing something wrong... Can I get decent results with pool sand for low light plants with root tabs, water column dosing and DIY CO2? Or is it just going to end up smothering roots no matter what?