substrate ?'s

[Fresh250]

i have come up with the following list of plants for my new 240g tank

Cabomba Green(cabomba carolina)-for background/side of tank
Mother Amazon Sword- for middle of background
caladiifolia(anubias barteri v caladiifolia)- for midground
larger peice or two of malaysian driftwood for midground
dwarf baby tears (hemianthus callitrichoides)- foreground

my question is....
what is the cheapest substrate that i can use to grow/sustain these plants comfortably, i know everyone is on short budgets now and im feeling the same, just wondering if anyone has any input on what would be cheaper than a full flourite substrate, any help or advice is welcome... thanks guys

 

[FastFly67]

play sand or pool sand with root tabs

 

[tanker]

play sand or pool sand with root tabs

Yep!!

Next up, ordinary gravel from Home Depot and root tabs.

 

[bkw1982]

turface, 50lbs for like $15. I have it in one of my tanks and i like it. Only prob is that it's really light.

 

[JoeLaX28]

Rather than get all fancy, how about straight up top soil? Here's a link for more information on the Walstad method:
http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/Walstad_method

 

[smartdog126]

i used play sand for my 10 gallon and 29 gallon worked perfectly with out a doubt just wash it big time thats all

 

[FrostyNYC]

Don't bother with the dwarf babies tears unless you're going to have high light and pressurized CO2, in my experience. They also prefer a fertile substrate (ie not playsand or plain gravel).

Definitely stick a root tab under your swordplant.

 

[rocker92]

i would not go with a plant substrate, i think they are all hype and they actully do nothing. just my 2 cents...

 

[FrostyNYC]

i would not go with a plant substrate, i think they are all hype and they actully do nothing. just my 2 cents...

Having grown plants in normal gravel, eco complete, flourite, and ada aquasoil, I disagree completely with that statement.

 

[jpappy789]

When it comes to the cheapest substrate that still works, go sand. Either pool filter or play sand would do the trick. You do not need special plant substrates (although most of the time they help in some way) and sand is pretty inexpensive.