Substrate

[electropunk06]

I want to change the gravel in my 60L to sand but is there a better substrate for plants to grow in? i would like alot of plants and maybe a CO2 system in the future. it also has to be cory and pleco friendly.
Thanks
Lloyd

 

[electropunk06]

Anyone know?

 

[Carlovel1]

I would use a plant substrate like Seachem Flourite. I don't recommend sand and plants. If you have corys and other bottom-dwellers, then its likely they will easily uproot your plants easily. Gravel on the other hand, is much better for keeping plants in but can be sharp. However, a plant substrate is in the middle, its by far the best for plants while also being great for corys and plecos.
Carl

 

[JoshuaA]

I actually went from Gravel > Sand > Gravel. I initially started off with gravel as it looked the easiest to deal with however I didn't like how much siphoning was necessary to clean it out in a planted tank, then with the disturbing the roots I disliked it. This was large rounded pebbles and in theory it is Cory friendly but I wouldn't try it.

I moved onto sand however I the sand looked fantastic until my snail pooped on it and with a play sand colour with black pellets it looked awful and I quickly disliked the yellow/orange glow it gave my tank. I also found it nearly impossible to prevent Hydrogen Sulphide spots however much I did poke around in the sand on water changes pretty much seemed to want to form everywhere it could. Very Cory friendly

So I moved back to gravel, however the gravel I have at the moment is reinforced with a nutritious sub-layer from Tropica. The gravel I have now is a very fine almost sand type gravel from... Erm... Crap can't remember the brand haha. Anyway the black gravel makes the greens of the plants in the planted tank stand out amazingly and I do love it. Unfortunately due to it being fine gravel it's harder to siphon dirt than it is with sand surprisingly. Though it is very cory friendly as it is very fine gravel.

All in all I found that the easiest I have had as substrate so far is the fine black substrate + Tropica. It was easiest to plant in I have found so far without much movement or dislodging of plants. The sand was a nightmare to keep clean and prevent Hydrogen Sulphide formation and planting or keeping new plants in place was awful though once that was out the way it was fine. Finally the larger gravel... Lets not go there, I hated it.

I was convinced by a few posts I had read (though I never asked) that not having a nutritous substrate layer but injecting CO2 could be a limiting factor to potential growth. It's quite cheap to buy however it doesn't feel so great knowing if I ever want to change my substrate I might end up having to throw the entire bag worth out.

Sorry for the wall of text! Hope it has helped slightly, though plants will grow in almost anything you give them.

 

[Ben M]

hi, in 2 of my planted tanks i have play sand, which is great, i've had no problems with corys uprooting plants. for my new nano i have bought Colombo flora base, which is supposed to be a great plant substrate (although i can't really comment as i haven't set it up yet).

cheers

 

[electropunk06]

hi thanks for the advice, i have two tanks which are both planted, one with sand and one with gravel. some of the plants really thrive in the gravel and not in the sand and visa versa. So i think im going to put the seachem in place of my gravel and see how it go's and then maby put it in my other tank.
thanks
Lloyd