Good Substrate For A Planted Aquarium?

[Mylesmom08]

If you mean normal sand as in playsand, yeah I've used that too lol Just rinse it really well. I would recommend dosing liquid ferts then, and root tabs. 

daizeUK, not to change the subject, but do you use anything special to hold down your plants? My cories dig mine up regardless of how far down I bury them and by the time the roots finally start to latch on to the sand, the cories reup them again lol

 

[daizeUK]

Nope, I currently use aquarium sand (Pets at Home brand) in 2 tanks and Unipac sand in the third, I like both of them.  Most plants stay rooted just fine but I don't have cories

 

[Wansui]

Ok guys thanks for all the advise two final questions does it matter if the sand is black or white? i.e would the colours effect fish stress levels ect? or are they indiffrent. Last question, How deep would you recommend the substrate to be for plants?

 

[daizeUK]

Sand should be about 2 inches deep, you can have it deeper where there are plants with long strong roots such as your Amazon sword, the roots will disturb the substrate and keep it aerated.
 
I think the colour of sand might depend on which fish you are planning to stock, some fish might show better colours on one or the other, but I don't know much about that.  I'd say its up to your personal preference.