sand planted aquarium?

[anna_panna]

HI,

I just got my second aquarium, and I want to do it planted and with sand.... Now I am wondering if I should mix it with something, put something under or use special sand...to promote the growth? I find the information on the internet really confusing?? anyone have any suggestions...? Also i will put in a couple of fish that will pick up the sand all the time (earth eaters).

I have a planted gravel aquarium with CO2 and gravel sized fertilising granules mixed in the gravel which is doing fine. When i started i didnt really know what I was doing, and if i had known i would have used gravel better suited to plants. so this time i want to do it right...

thanks! anna

 

[cutechic]

You can mix it with fluorite, but I don't bother. It depends how serious you are about plant-keeping. If you're only going to keep a few undemanding plants, I don't think it's necessary. HTH

 

[anna_panna]

thanks cutechic,

I think I will try that! Im going to go get some now... I would like a jungle!

 

[Stryker]

You can also get liquid plant additives that provide the minerals plants need, while not adding to the nitrates and phosphates in your tank water. I swear by these additives.

Remember that if you add anything that will "feed" the plants they *may* need brighter lighting too.... else new growth may be weak.

 

[Dubby]

Anna_panna,

I would suggest that you put a thin layer of clay mixed with your fertiliser granules and top it with about 2 inches of sand. This would make it more suitable for your plants.

 

[rain-]

With fish that mix the sand all the time I wouldn't put anything under the sand that isn't supposed to get to the water. I suppose the earth eaters dig large holes at least when they are caring their fry?

I would use fertiliser tablets added only near the plant roots. Then the fertilisers might stay in the sand and not get digged up by fish. In addition to those, I'd recommend liquid fertiliser and maybe CO2 if you have enough light.

Seachem has lots of products, Flourite being one of them. They also have Flourish tabs that would be good near the roots. And Flourish Excel, organic carbon. If you add Flourish Excel, you don't need to add CO2. I haven't tried it, but it sounds good. Flourish is a liquid fertiliser and I have been using it with Flourish Trace and some of my own mixes. It seems to work quite well.

But, other brands are as good as Seachem. I have Tetra Crypto tablets and they work really well.

 

[DOLORES]

hey! im going to do the same thing when my first tank finish cycling im going to buy another and it'll be planted with sand.... i was searching for anubias (i've read here frm one guy that they're good and easy to take care of) and well i found this website that maybe it can helpyou , besides these advices and theyre very cheap though

www.aquaticplantdepot.com

hope that helped a bit and thanks for postin this topic it helped me
good luck with your new tank!!

 

[anna_panna]

hello, thanks for all the advice.

Well i bought JBL Aquabasis Plus, the only one i could find around here (no flourite) and did what Dubby suggested, 2 cm of the stuff and 5 cm of sand on top, still havent put water though.

Thanks for the advice rain, i really like the look of your tanks! I wanted to do mine open, but my boyfriend thinks the computer wont appreciate it. But thats a whole new area to research. Im defenetly going to get some flourish, sound good.

The 2 earth eater cichlids are unlikely to dig that deep, at least they dont with the gravel, they just move it around ocnstantly (ruining my attempts of growing riccia!!). They dont uproot plants either. They pick up the sand to sift it for food. I was told today that if they do spawn they will do it on rock or wood, they are mouth breeders. I am moving them because i have been told sand is better for their mouths than gravel.

Thanks for the link Dolores, unfortunately I am in the UK so a bit far to buy, good luck with your tanks too..

Anna