Best substrate for planted tanks?

[Patrick M. Bodega Aquatics]

Hello! In all of my aquariums, I have some kind of aquatic plants to a certain capacity. I am looking to increase the amount of plants but am curious on what you recommend for substrate. In all of my aquariums I just use normal sand / gravel from Petco or PetSmart. I have seen some people use dirt and other substrates. What kind of substrate should I use for moderately / heavily planted aquariums?

Thanks!

[Andy's Fish Den]

My go to is a mix of about 60% eco complete and 40% Fluval stratum. I like that the stratum will help feed the plants, but it is lightweight and I have a hard time getting it to hold plants down, which is where the eco complete comes in since it is heavier, it will help hold the plants down until they establish their roots system.

[Ken Dyer]

Similar to @Andy's Fish Denbut I add in some crushed coral as well. I find the mix to do quite well for me and my water. 

[Cole]

Eco complete by itself would do perfectly fine. If you did want to spice it up I second the mixing of stratum in with it. If you wanted to go the stratum route you could always use a cap of a sand material to help seat the plants and let the roots grow down into the stratum. 

[Frogmouth Catfish]

I like black diamond blasting sand because it holds plants down well, and doesn't show mulm due to the color. Cons: plants don't grow especially fast in it (crypts and vals do well), and needs root tabs. I've also used Eco Complete, which doesn't hold plants down as easily, but has a nice naturalistic look, grows most plants well, but also needs root tabs. Ordinary pea-sized aquarium gravel, likewise, has the same qualities as Eco-Complete, but tends to hold plants down pretty well, too. These are just my experiences with substrates. 

[StevesFishTanks]

I like the simplicity of eco complete. Set and forget just have to dose water and root tabs as needed.

[IanB]

I think a lot depends on your goals. I will never use Stratum again because of how difficult to plant in and messy it is. My two favorites are Ecocomplete and active clay-based plant substrates (like ADA Amazonia, UNS Controsoil, etc...). If you are just switching from gravel, Ecocomplete would be a good option because it won’t cause ammonia spikes but will hold nutrients from root tabs or liquid ferts for plants. If you are using lots of heavy root feeders, have hard water that you want to buffer, or are trying for high tech carpeting plants, I’ve personally had better success with the active soils. With them you do have to be attentive to water parameters early in the tank’s life as they can release significant amounts of ammonia early on.

While some people have great success with it, I will never use dirt in a tank again as I’ve found it tends to lead to a messy look and ammonia spikes if you move/add/remove plants which can break the sand cap.

Really I don’t think that there is a “right” answer or “best” substrate. It comes down to what you want and what you value. Clean look, easy maintenance, no fuss? Ecocomplete is a great option. Excellent growth on difficult plants, buffering capacity, great planting? Amazonia or similar will do wonders. Low cost, heavy growth, when you are happy to do more maintenance and worry less about appearance? Capped dirt might work.

[KBOzzie59]

If you are putting fish with the plants I'd focus on what substrate best suits the fish.   Plants will grow in almost any substrate, including no substrate.  I have grown plants in tanks with just marbles and beach class as substrate.  My guppy nursery tanks have crushed coral, my pelvicachromis taenatus like sand.  If I was setting up for an earth eater I would not use something real abrasive like blasting sand.  I do like eco-complete if it is something the fish will tolerate.

[tolstoy21]

I really like Flourite Black Sand and pretty much exclusively use that.

#1 reason I like it -- looks. I like the black sand look. 

Plants grow well  very well in it, and I have noticed i almost never have to vac it, ever. My corydora pack does a good job kicking up everything into the water column from the surface of that and that gets pulled out into the filter. Can't remember the last time I used vac.

Ok so cons -- and there are few:

Expensive.
Hard to keep plants rooted until they root themselves.
Has to be super rinsed or you'll have an insanely cloudy tank.
Has iron in it, so git will get stuck in a magnetic cleaner if you get too close to it, then you risk scratching your glass.
If you do vac it, its sucks up easily and if you use a python, gets all over your sink and in your trap.

So why do i use it after all the above? I like it. Looks nice to me. I'd use it again in a heart beat. It grows plants well.

Edited November 20, 2020 by tolstoy21

[Hobbit]

If you do go with a dirtied tank, be sure to do the setup right and get the right sort of cap on it. I was planning on using a sand cap in my 55 gallon but on the day I made the 40 minute drive with my gift card the petco was out of sand 😢so I got gravel instead. The dirt gets through it really easily. Especially since I bought two yoyo loaches in a moment of weakness who like to shove their little noses through the gravel in pursuit of burrowing snails. I’ve seen @Streetwiserecommend dirt, then sand, then gravel, and if I did it again I’d probably go that route.

[ange]

Honestly just pick a substrate that you enjoy the appearance of. Plants can flourish in almost anything. I've played with EcoComplete, soil capped in different substrates (favorite as of right now is inert gravel cap), plain aquarium gravel, sand, and Amazonia and long-term it's all the same.

[Hobbit]

@ange how thick do you make your gravel cap? I suspect I made mine too thin and probably put it in wrong. (I think I added a bunch of water before the gravel... not sure why.)

[ange]

I like thick caps so I've done a 2 inch cap on my Walstad style experiment. The reason I like thicker caps is because it limits the nutrients a little bit and I don't have explosive plant growth early on when I'm very likely to be changing how things are arranged. It also makes it more difficult to break the cap in even of livestock snuffling around or me recklessly redecorating.

I also have sand caps over organic soil as well but those are more of an experiment that I'm still trying to figure out if I like or not.