Sand And Ferts?

[mike455555]

for a planted aquarium what would you recommend. i was thinking of using sand although sand has little or no nutrients in it for plants? and i dont want to go out and spend a lot of money on substrates to put under it is there any DIY substrate you can make at a cheap cost? if so how? or could you just add chemical's to the sand somehow?.

(it would be for a 5F tank if / when i get one. or a 90L one. depending on which i want to set up next)

 

[Tizer]

see my 5 foot setup in my signature for cat litter / playsand setup. Cheap as it gets.

 

[mike455555]

cat litter has nutrients in it already? or did you add more ... great looking tank btw =]

 

[BLACK DOG]

Hasn't cat litter got a disinfectant in it to stop smells.

 

[Tizer]

Hasn't cat litter got a disinfectant in it to stop smells.

not if you get 100% clay with no added "stuffs". crazy hey.

cat litter has nutrients in it already? or did you add more ... great looking tank btw =]

i used root tabs and EI dosing. If you really want a decent planted tank, get a decent substrate. Lots of info in planted forum.

 

[mike455555]

can you add stuff to it? or is it fine as it is for nutrients?

 

[Tizer]

can you add stuff to it? or is it fine as it is for nutrients?

no, like i said, if you want a decent planted substrate, you have to pay for it. Clay absorbs nutrients from the water column and slowly releases it over time.

 

[mike455555]

could u buy the macro and micro nutrencince desvole them in water and clay mix and let it evaporate?

 

[Tizer]

i've absolutely no idea why you would bother.

 

[mike455555]

to have a good substrate to start for cheep? and then u can does with homemade ferts the left over micro / macro ?

 

[jacko32]

i used the tropica planted substrate from green machine in my 90gallon low tech tank cost me £45 and ive used it in my 19gallon high tech that only cost £15 then i dose daily aqua nourish and aqua nourish + not the cheapest but cheaper than ADA aqua soils.

 

[mike455555]

yer £50 is alot to me... but i guess it would be worth it

 

[mike455555]

looking on the green machine website... they dont do there own stuff?... could you link me i cant find it

 

[jacko32]

yer £50 is alot to me... but i guess it would be worth it

its a lot to me aswell but i figure its easier than buying root tabs all the time

 

[mike455555]

yer i dont want to do it with root tabs... but id made my substrate for 2 tanks (i say made i dug a bit out of a stream and boiled it) but that was for 2 smaller tanks i dont wanta do that on a large scale