Substrate Question

[connorsbala]

Hey,
My silver sand in my planted tank is aggravating me greatly! Im gonna change it this weekend as when i do a water change and suck up the debris, the sand goes with it lol so im getting less and less...therefore my Plants arer starting to become uprooted.
I have sand in my axolotl tank and is lovely and clean, but i cant keep it in the planted tank!
So, im going for a nutrient base eg Pur Laterite and a layer of gravel on top.
Now, my question is can you use dorset pea gravel in planted tanks? My LFS say not too and stick to limefree but im convinced ive seen loadsa pics with users using the natural stuff...
What depth should the layers be too?
Do you advise dorset pea or lime-free?

Cheers

 

[connorsbala]

I might just ditch the current sand in there, add some substrate stuff like pure laterite and then a layer of new sand on top
Anyone got any input?

 

[garuf]

Avoid lime, it will rise water hardness and will be detrimental to plant growth.
A dedicated substrate is better than an inert, tropica's is good if you want to have a capped substrate.

 

[doresy]

If you collect your water in a bucket the you will catch the sand, rinse it then return to the tank next time and so on.