Best Substrate To Plant In

[phantomlink]

Still doing research and I believe my 20gallon long will have plants all around the side/back with a planting substrate, with pond stones separating it and the playsand for the corys to feed and swim around.
 
Which is the best substrate to use for the planted part?  I think the store I go to might only have SeaChem Flourite Black sand.  Doesnt  it need to be capped off with anything?  I've read mixed experiences with people who put an inch of Flourite then 1-2 inches of sand. I would rather keep any planted areas one substrate all my tanks have mixed their sand types together now
 
 

 

[techen]

I use Flourite black sand in my tank, It states you do not cap it off with anything and just to use it by itself which I do.

 

[phantomlink]

is it fine like regular sand?

 

[techen]

Yea it's pretty fine, I really like the looks of it. There's some bigger grains in it tho.

 

[phantomlink]

Ah I thought it was all thicker because I've always heard it being "clay gravel", Seeing how this will be a low tech trial, I think I might just use it in certain areas of the tank where I plan to plant, $30/bag and I need 4 bags for 3" of substrate in a 30x12 tank is kinda going over my experiment budget.  Or would it be best to just do the 1 inch capped by 2 inches of sand?

 

[techen]

As you can see by my pic below I used it for half my tank, It's now just 100% of it but yea it's not cheap stuff.

 

[phantomlink]

Ya I'm thinking I might use it for where the plants will go, around the back and the sides, leaving the center and front open for food placement and whatnot.  I would use Pool filter sand to really bring out the black kuhli loaches but since its winter, its impossible to find atm but hoping I get lucky somehow this week

 

[CoryLover95]

I use regular old play sand for my plants and it works just great.  As long as you have adequate lighting and plant food (I use API's CO2 Booster which is dosed once daily), you don't need to bust the budget with special planting sand.