playsand as my only substrate
- Thread starter jasonmemo
- Start date
The special plant substrate has fertilizers in it for the plants. You can add the fertilizers to the water in the form of dissolved dry ferts, or as a pre-packaged liquid fertilizer. Some plants that are considered to be root system plants may require additional root tablet fertilizers. So to sum it up the substrate is not important as long as it is fine enough for the roots to establish, and you add fertilizers for the plants. I have a planted tank with the small sized gravel, and it does fine, I just add liquid ferts, and root tabs.
i just got a new 72 gal. and i decided to go with play sand, i just bought some dwarf hair grass friday and it is already starting to spread! they will take nutriunts (sp?) from the water and the substrate, when your fish excrete waste, it goes into the substrate and that is what your plants feed on, the natural fertilizer!
I learned the other day, Flourite doesn't actually fertilize. It is mineral heavy clay. All it does is provide minerals for the plants. These minerals can instead be dosed like ferts, or they are sometimes in your water already.
also You will need ALOT of mts snails to keep your substrate churned' sand can make gas pockets that can' take out your whole tank , so be careful turn it often, and use lots of mts. It can grow plants, people use it all the time. I use it in my 5.5 gallon, I add root tabs to the sand every 3 mths, and use dry ferts in the water colomn. just make sure you dont make it too deep, but then, you have to have it deep enough to hold the plants down... so make sure you stir' it often . its better to save money and make a tank that will be your wabted END result, then to cheap out in the start , I know money is a issue, but you will end up changing it, which is a PITA, later, why not wait for the money and get eco-complete for your plants ? BUT if you really like the look of sand, and small white gravel could help, OR just stick with the sand and I am sure it will look great ethier way . Just be careful with the sand, if thats really the look you want , Go look at other's tank journals, and see what they are using , see what scapes of plants you like the best , so you will know' what to buy . Good luck !! ~~ show pics when you get started !!! ~~~
You should not have a problem as long as you dose the water column.
Check out www.aquariumfertilizer.com for cheap dry ferts in bulk.
Check out www.aquariumfertilizer.com for cheap dry ferts in bulk.
the sand will get sucked up into the big tube, but settle back out... you'll lose some, but not much, and eventually you'll be rid of all the light weight stuff and not lose any more.