Brandxn Posted September 8 Share Posted September 8 It’s been 3 years of having a planted aquarium tank and I have been thinking about redoing it after learning more and thinking of different layout ideas. I used Eco Complete when I started with a sand patch in the center and want to see if there’s better substrate brands out there from people with more experience. What is the best and most recommended substrate for planted aquariums? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clownbaby Posted September 8 Share Posted September 8 I like father fish style tanks, not a big fan of aquasoils personally but I know lots of people yield great results. I like dirted tanks: I enjoy the microfauna that live within them (such as tubifex worms, aka BOOGIE WORMS 💃🕺🎉). I know some people get the eeby jeebies with worms though. After doing a handful of ecospheres and four dirted tanks, I recommend using a mix of clay, sand, leaf decay, forest products, and native topsoil (even better if you can get topsoil from a stream or lake)! But again, I know not everyone is a fan of dirt in tanks. I also know that back in the day (60s and 70s, I mean) aquarists would sometimes use volcanic substrates like pozzolans... they did yield some great results! As for aquasoils, I have no clue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAB Posted September 8 Share Posted September 8 Every soil has its pluses and minuses. I have used dirt, mineralized soil, fluorite eco complete, ada aqua soil and knock offs of just about all of them. I like the mineralized soil and aqua soil the best. One is very cheap, the other not so much. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted September 8 Share Posted September 8 (edited) Black Diamond Blasting sand 20/40 course grit. Cheap! Edited September 8 by Mmiller2001 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schuyler Posted September 8 Share Posted September 8 On 9/8/2024 at 7:28 AM, Mmiller2001 said: Black Diamond Blasting sand 20/40 course grit. Cheap! Wait, your tank it just blasting sand as substrate!? Do you use a bunch of you tabs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flossy Posted September 8 Share Posted September 8 I use UNS controsoil in all my tanks. Works great for growing plants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninjoma Posted September 8 Share Posted September 8 The easiest to plant in is fine sand in my experience, so that is my favorite. I like the caribsea moonlight sand. I've heard others suggests that plants with small roots will have a hard time growing in fine sand, but I haven't had that issue personally. Just add root tabs under root feeders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted September 8 Share Posted September 8 On 9/8/2024 at 1:04 PM, Schuyler said: Wait, your tank it just blasting sand as substrate!? Do you use a bunch of you tabs? No tabs at all. Just water column dosing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solstice_Lacer Posted September 8 Share Posted September 8 I have some experiences with various substrates including eco complete, flourite, capped dirt and gravel. If I were to set up a tank today, I would use a thin layer of soil (probably pond soil but maybe just top soil) capped with a pretty thick layer of play sand and pea gravel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retrophyllum_minus Posted September 10 Share Posted September 10 On 9/7/2024 at 8:48 PM, clownbaby said: I like father fish style tanks Are those just the same as Walstad tanks, basically? Or no? I know you commented on my post about my 40gal breeder (many thanks!) but I'm also getting a 20 gallon long going to experiment with a Walstad tank style. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tk_yt Posted September 10 Share Posted September 10 I watch MD Tanks and Green Aqua, they both have different styles. Green Aqua almost exclusively uses Aquasoil, while MD Tanks uses a lot of pond soil and gravel mix and then cap with sand. It’s unfortunate because the brand he uses only is available in Europe. He also pretty much does fish-in cycle right away, my guess is capping the soil allows the ammonia levels to be manageable although I’m always too worried to try that myself 🙂 I just started my second tank using Aquasoil, and they leech a lot of ammonia so it takes a while to cycle, I think I am still 3 weeks away from putting in my shrimp and fish. Although that gives me time to keep planning for how I want to finish the tank and make adjustments 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyM Posted September 10 Share Posted September 10 On 9/10/2024 at 12:18 AM, tk_yt said: He also pretty much does fish-in cycle right away, my guess is capping the soil allows the ammonia levels to be manageable He uses API Quick Start and lots of plants - he's an API endorser but I can vouch that stuff works very well. The plants take up ammonia pretty fast. For substrates, I've used gravel, sand, and eco-complete. Sand is the big winner for me, with root tabs for things like crypts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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