Sand or Gravel

[qwikimpss]

Okay, I finally have cash and am going to start getting stuff together to plant my 29 gallon. My first decision i have is to switch over to sand or should i keep my small gravel and add some laterite of flourite. What are the advantages and disadvantages with sand vs gravel?

 

[qwikimpss]

That was supposed to be laterite OR flourite.

 

[zig]

If you can afford flourite i would get flourite, they make an excellent substrate for a planted tank, it basically contains minerals usually in the form of iron that the roots of plants can use.

Sand is not much good as a substrate as it is inert and does not contain any benificial minerals.

Laterite is also good but it has to be mixed with small gravel 2-3mm if the gravel is any bigger the laterite sink to the bottom eventually it is smaller than most normal gravel.

Personally i would go for flourite, another very good substrate to consider is eco complete, this is a dark substrate that should be used on its own, flourite can be mixed no more than 50-50 with ordinary gravel if costs are an issue, but obviously much better on its own.

 

[qwikimpss]

My money situation is a bit limited, i'm picking up a 55 watt power compact light tomorrow. A lil over 100 bucks, my total budget is under 300. I'm coupling that with a 20 watt NO flouresent i have which wil gimme about 2.5 wpg. I have some Co2 up and running right now at about 17 ppm. I think i have most of the basics covered.

 

[zig]

Well get your co2 up to 30ppm if you can, with 2.5 WPG you will need this to aviod algae, try and keep the co2 as stable as you can and this will help a lot, but 30ppm is real good.

Like i say you can go 50-50 flourite and gravel and that would save you some money.

2.5 WPG is a decent level of light you should have good success with it, just try your best with the co2, add more yeast to get the ppm up.

Best of luck with it........post some pics when your up and running.

 

[qwikimpss]

Hmm....50/50 flourite, 30 ppm (gonna need some finagling), gonna hve to scrape every last bit o' algae outta that tank right now as it is already up and running and never gave a crap about the algae as long as i could see my fish. Now i just need to figure out my plants, i want some swords, vallis, a java fern or two, maybe some dwarf sags to fill in the front, any of these sound bad for my set up or any ideas that would work better?

 

[zig]

In the beginning i would use fast growing stem plants if you are running 2.5 WPG, this will help your tank to more quickly establish a balance and out compete the algae, good plants to use would include, water sprite, red ludwigia, egeria densa or elodea, or any fast growing hygro plant, try and avoid any slow growers in the beginning, these can be added later, the fast growing stem plants are usually widely available (because they grow fast they are usually in stock) at this stage i would put lots of them in and get your co2 stable at around 25-30ppm.

 

[qwikimpss]

Elodia, that has always caught my eye but thought that it was a tough plant to keep alive.

 

[zig]

It grows like a weed when it gets going, its the same as egeria.

 

[qwikimpss]

My only problem is ow to get the plants. Most stores around here only stock amazon swords. The PetCo near me has a giant tank full of plants but none are labeled, more research is needed i guess, arm myself with some pictures of what i want when i go to see if they have it I guess.

 

[zig]

Just do your best, but try and avoid slow growers initially, the fast growers will give you a good headstart.

 

[qwikimpss]

Yeah, it's all trial and error I guess. Big Al's has a good price on that light i was gonna buy, 40 bucks cheaper! and i can get that flourite at the same time and be pretty much ready to plant!

 

[Angry_Platy]

Fast growers = vallis, Rotala walichii, Water Wisteria, Blue Stricta and (another plant I can't remember its name, it grew very unevenly)....all the plants I mentioned I have had and they need cutting all the time. Val is an exceptionally fast growing plant.

I have 3.2wpg, 15-25ppm CO2 and a sand substrate and besides an initial outbreak (before using CO2) I don't have any algae problems (any algae at all for that matter)...I use a liquid fertiliser once a week and strategically use root tablets for those plants needing it (swords and glosso atm).....

Don't let anyone tell you that a nice planted tank cant be sand!!!

 

[LoachLover]

Sand is not much good as a substrate as it is inert and does not contain any benificial minerals.

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Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe aquatic plants get most of their nutrition out of w/e is in the water anyway.

 

[Angry_Platy]

That is true LoachLover. However in the case of heavy root feeders (swords..well..most rosette plants) root tabs may be needed. So if yur tank is prdominantly these plants then I guess a nutrient rich substrate would help. Which is why I use root tabs with a lot of my plants. The other plants get their nutrients from the added ferts.