The Best Substrate For A Planted Tank

[sianeds]

I have a 30gal which is currently bare bottom with minimal "piled stones" decoration. I am planting it this week some time, I ordered a pack of 25 assorted plants online today. Any I don't use will be taken to my LFS or donated to someone else.

This is what I ordered (cut and paste so forgive me for any spelling mistakes etc...
THE PLANTS YOU WILL RECEIVE WILL BE 5 BUNCHES
HAND SELECTED BY ME FROM THE FOLLOWING
ELODEA DENSA
GREEN CABOMBA
BACOPA MONNERI (BABY TEARS)
BACOPA CAROLINA
HYGROPHILLA POLYSPERMA
MEXICAN OAK LEAF
LUDWIGIA
BORNEO FERN
VALLIS TORTA (TWISTED VALLIS)
WHEAT PLANT
WATER WISTERIA
MALAYAN SWORDS
BORNEO SWORDS
GREEN SPADE LEAF
CHERRY LEAF STRICTA
GIANT CORKSCREW VALLIS
VALLIS SPIRALLIS (STRAIGHT VALLIS)
BLUE STRICTA
UMBRELLA FERN
JAVA FERN
IVY LEAF CRYPTOCORYNE
INDIAN FERN
ALTERNANTHERA REINECKII ROSEAFOLIA RED
ALTERNANTHERA REINECKII LILACINA RED
LUDWIGIA GLANDULOSA PERENNIS RED
FOUNTAIN PLANT
HILL RADICAN SWORDS
AMAZON SWORDS


I am going to buy substrate for the tank today and am just wondering what will be best to use? Also are these good plants for a planted noob? I have kept fish for years and had "planted" tanks before but I have been on the salty side for so long now I have forgotton most of what I learned

Any tips would be most appreciated

 

[mlawson]

Some of those plants will be difficult to grow such as Cabomba.
I also fear that the wheat plant is not aquatic and will die in your tank after a few weeks, the smae goes for the fountain plant.

I have found good results with Eco-complete, it's easy to plant into and is very good for plants, although, it is a dark black so it may not appeal to you and it is incredibly light, so if you move the substrate slightly it will move. Haing gravel over Tropica substrate or tetra substrate can also be quite good or maybe Red Sea Florabase.

 

[sianeds]

Thanks for the quick reply I'll have a look at the substrate you mentioned and I'll look up the plants too so I canrehome them when they arrive. I'm not ready for difficult plants yet

 

[NoRp]

ive heard of people usign differant layers but i allways go for looks first so i use sand

 

[mlawson]

ive heard of people usign differant layers but i allways go for looks first so i use sand

Sand may look good, but it isn't as nutritional and as good for your plants.I would suggest having a nutritional substrate such as Florabase topped over with sand, although eventually it will mix up.

 

[nry]

Cabomba...I think there is a slight myth surrounding this plant, it grows like mad for me at 1wpg, even before I added decent CO2 it was fine.

My only concern with the package is (aside from the non-aquatics....I think this is Greenline you are getting them from?) the sheer number of different plant types. If nothing else though, you should find many that grow well and others that don't: from there you have the option of buying more of the good ones and no more of the bad ones

I would suggest looking into the plants in that list and finding out which ones are suited to foreground/mid/back of the tank, it should help you place them accordingly. If it is a Greenline order then they may even come labelled with this info but I think this depends on the choice of pack, the value pack isn't labelled if I recall but others are.

JBL AquaBasis Plus is about the same price as the Tetra product, cost me £10 for twice as much as I needed for my 15 gallon. It has certainly done well for me, and I would choose it again without concern.

 

[sianeds]

Thanks guys I got some dark stuff for planted tanks ( I forget the name and I've thrown the bag now doh! ) I put 1" of the darker plant substrate on the bottom and made it a bit deeper in places for aesthetics and then covered it with enough sand to not see it. I made it real thin at the edges so you can only see sand in the tank and none of the darker stuff shows through the glass.

I want the tank to be fairly heavily planted with a view to keeping dwarf puffers. I have been looking for pics of the plants on the list and have got a pretty good catalogue of pics from various sites so hopefully I should be able to identify them. I just need to wait now and see what gets delivered. I expect to not receive any of the more "unusual" of the plants as apparently I'll get a random selection from the list so I guess they'll send the cheapest ones

Once they arrive is there anything I should know about planting?? Before when I have planted stuff I just kinda poked the plants into the gravel and left them. I've never had a properly planted tank before Is there anything in particular I need to test for and how neccessary is CO2? Do I need it straight away or can I leave it until the plants are growing? Also I know nothing about ferts and any other additives I may need

I feel really daft knowing so little about this stuff after keeping fish my whole life but I am determined to do it right

 

[cheesy feet]

For most plants you should gently 'poke'( ) them in at a 45% angle so they don't come uprooted,eventully they will grow up but the roots will still be going sideways so they will stay down.co2 can be quite neccesary if you have lots of plants ,they will need it to grow and outcompete algae.30 ppm is the desired level.Higher can harm some fish.O yeh and if you get the wheat plant it is actually a spider plant,but o well.I have fountian plants aswell,but i think they are aquatic,just looked it up they are not .There is an pinned article on ferting so that should help