plants and sand.

[schizo_fish]

I recently read somewhere that it is not advised to put live plants into a sand substrate. is this true? what problems could it cause?

 

[LadyMinion]

I've never experienced any problems with live plants and sand. As long as they are given a chance to root, they should be fine. I have some very well-rooted plants in my tanks.

 

[Teelie]

Same here. I have several plants well grounded in sand doing fabulous in two tanks. I have root tabs in there to help them out.

 

[noclueman]

I have sand and live plants and most of them do fine. The only times I have had problems is when I pull them up and try to replant them. I guess I hurt the roots when I do that. Otherwise they seem to grow quite fast in sand.

 

[schizo_fish]

ok, thanks people, thats nice to know.
does anyone know of anywhere i can buy fertile substrate to put under the sand,over the internet

 

[Rose]

Moved to plant forum.

Rose

 

[schizo_fish]

does anyone know?

 

[fraservet]

try aquatics online or aquatics direct
they both have laterite

 

[ChrisP]

If I remeber correctly, Laterite needs a gravel substrate, best way to do it is to put your laterite in then an inch or two of gravel on top. You dont want the Laterite getting in the water column or your going to get problems! If you want a sand substrate put it on top of the gravel. This is the way I have doen it and it works very well, the deeper the substrate the better! I have a good 3 or 4 inches which lets the plants root better.

 

[fraservet]

why would laterite need a gravel substrate rather than sand?

I have a bottom layer which is laterite mixed with sand, then a layer of pure sand on top of that.

 

[schizo_fish]

besides, wouldn't the gravel eventually move to the top over time due to the larger grain size?

 

[ChrisP]

It shouldnt do, I have had mine set up for about 10 months like that and so far so good, the sand will seep through the gaps in the gravel if the grain of gravel is large enough, I used a fine gravel so that has not happened although it would not matter if it did.

As for the laterite thats just what it says on the instructions on the back of the box, it says to put a few inches of gravel on top, it does not mention sand so I presume it requires gravel although you could alays e-mail API and ask them.

 

[babyfish]

There is no reason at all why you can't put laterite under sand... plants grow much better in sand than gravel... the sand enables the plant roots to grow fine hairs which helps them remove nutrients from the substrate.

Crypts...Swords.. vallis and water wisteria will all grow really well with laterite under the sand

 

[schizo_fish]

if you use laterite under sand wouldn't that also make it's way to the surface? and isn't that a bad thing because your not supposed to let it be absorbed into the water.

 

[babyfish]

What actually happens is that the sand seeps between the larger gaps in the laterite, once it has filled the gaps then it doesn't sink any more... you need at least two inches of sand above the laterite... when cleaning be carefull not to disturb the laterite level.

As for it not being absorbed into the water, anything that's in a fishtank will leach into the water unless it's totally inert