Looking for Opinions/Advice Re: New Planted 75 Gal tank

[GailLaForest]

Greetings,

We finally got a new 75 gallon tank and cabinet.  It's in a great location against an east wall that gets bright, but not direct, sunlight.  Our plan is to have a lush planted tank but we can't find anything definite about what base substrate to use for a planted tank.  I've seen lots of opinions - everything from potting soil to "don't worry about it, the gravel is fine".

We have 60 lbs of pea gravel so far . . . .  So tell us what would you put down first if you were starting fresh?  Give us your opinions!

Thanks!

Peace,
Gail

[Fish Folk]

75 gal. covers a fair amount of area. Cost is typically determinative in my fishroom. If money didn’t matter, some fertilizer down first, then Active Flora black for the base few inches, with whatever larger gravel on top of that. Eco Complete is great too. 

[Mmiller2001]

Ace Hardware pool filter sand. 11 bucks for 50 pounds. Several colors to choose from.

Edited April 22 by Mmiller2001

[Ninjoma]

Depending on what plants you want to grow, the substrate may be irrelevant. If you are growing crypts, swords and other root feeders, inert gravel or sand is still fine as long as you add root tabs. You can also use a plant focused substrate, but it's more expensive and will still require root tabs to replenish it once the nutrients are depleted. Soil has a reputation for being extremely messy, so I've avoided trying it personally. 

[Janoš Bećar Pecaroš]

Look for Diana Walsted’s Ecology of Planted Aquarium. Great book.

[GailLaForest]

Thank you so much for all the great replies!  I really do appreciate it 🙂

Going to the co-op tomorrow to pick up what we need for the tank, we're hoping that Brandon will be there to help, he's the best!

[Tait_007]

It really does depend on the plants you use. I had regular aquarium gravel in my seventy five with a singular amazon sword in it but I did feed it some root tabs and there was goldfish in there with it. By far the best amazon sword I had ever seen. But now I have a 30 gallon with stems, pothos where its roots are in the gravel, and amazon swords where I need eco complete.

[gjcarew]

I don't know if you got a smaller size pea gravel but it's usually a bit too big to plant into. If you're going to aquarium co-op they sell gravel there that is a perfect size, and relatively cheap. Or honestly any fine aquarium gravel from a big box store will work as well. 

[Pepere]

Safe T Sorb is an absolute pleasure to put roots into.  Holds so much better than gravel does.  And it is pretty cheap. About $8.50 for 33 pounds.

 

I like safe t sorb with a few mesh bags of aquasoil in areas I am planning root feeders to be and then you can cap over that with a decorative sand if the aesthetics of Safe T Sorb is not to your liking.

 

I am in planning stage for a 75 gallon in the next year or so.  I am planning on a home made undergravel filter system draining in to a sump for filtration.  And on top of that go with the above mentioned substrate composite.  I am also planning on having it plumbed to a drain to do water changes and having a tank in the basement I can fill with water to condition and pump up stairs in to tank after self drained…. I will also have a port I can stick gravel vac in to in case I want to target siphon before throwing valve to self drain to prescribed depth.

Edited April 27 by Pepere

[BuzzDaddy21]

On 4/22/2023 at 3:02 PM, GailLaForest said:

what would you put down first if you were starting fresh?

I`m only using a certain brand of kitty litter from now on and it looks like gravel to me. (Light grey to medium dark color.)