Cheaper alternative to Flourite?

[cgcaver]

First of all, here's what Im working on:

Mbuna tank (yes i know they are typically rough on plants)
4wpg
pressurized CO2
glosso, amazon swords, anacharis, corkscrew val
Average substrate depth 1.5"


Here's my question:

Is there a cheaper alternative to buying Flourite? I know its probably really great stuff... but how much better is it than pool sand with seachem root tabs in it? Is it better enough to justify the cost of the stuff? Also, what about sand with a peat layer below it? What do you guys think? I just hate to spend all that money on Flourite, but if you think its worth it, lemme know.

 

[nursie]

I used half sand and half pool sand. That will cut your cost almost in half. For a 55 gal tank I used 2 bags of fluorite and the rest was the pool sand.

 

[daveedka]

Enriched substrates help in the begginning, but are not at all necessary. A light dusting of ground up peat under a lyer of gravel or sand will do the job nicely, and then you can use whatever substrate you wish. I have one flourite tank, the rest are just red flint gravel, over RFUG filters. plants grow well enough in all set-ups and thus far (not a long term test by any means) I can't say the flourite is any better than the other substrates.
Dave

 

[RTR]

The majority of my planted tanks are just small aquarium gravel. New setups are started with the fine dusting of peat daveedka mentioned plus either mulm or laterite for the bottom layer. I do prefer Flourite alone or mixed 50:50 with my regular gravel, but it is still the small minority of my tanks.