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Permalink Reply by R S on August 30, 2011 at 2:54pm

no plant necessarily NEEDS dirt but you can get substrate (which is gravel) called eco complete that has nutrients in it that are good for plants. other then that you can get liquid fertilizers which is what i use and u have to add it about once a week.

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Permalink Reply by Hud on August 30, 2011 at 8:19pm

Get plant that can grow on rock/driftwood. Java fern (various type), Anubias (various type), java moss, riccia (depend on your lighting).

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Permalink Reply by Nick T. on August 31, 2011 at 7:38pm

thanks for the replys I think I will get liquid fertalizers as well as posiibly some java moss or something

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Permalink Reply by Jarrod Mahon on September 9, 2011 at 12:52am

ive got normal hagen gravel and i grow amazon swords and water wisteria fine

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Permalink Reply by greg melton on July 29, 2012 at 3:25pm

can i mix the eco-complete with my original gravel bed? i have a 125 and dont want to break the tank down!

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Permalink Reply by Robert Jango on August 1, 2012 at 11:37pm

Sure. You can mix them.

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Permalink Reply by Kent Han on August 1, 2012 at 7:02pm

Java ferns and anubias dont need any substrate at all because you just time em to a rock or some drift wood. they are really slow growers thought so they might collect algae if you don't have a good cleanup crew. IME fine gravel or sand will also work for rooting plants as long as they are not big on nutrients/ferts such as ludwigia repens or some hygrophila which both grow like fire without ferts.  

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Permalink Reply by Robert Jango on August 1, 2012 at 11:47pm

Plants eat minerals. Plants get most of their minerals through their roots. Aquarium gravel and sand contains 0 nutrients but if you let the fish poop fall through the gravel it will form its own "mud" and feed the plants' roots that way. Gravel and sand also have 0 cation exchange capacity (CEC value). This means that they cannot absorb minerals from the water - or your fertilizers. Therefore you will have a lot of minerals floating around in the water that could lead to an outbreak of green water (free floating algae).

The above suggestions are all valid. Try to to substitute eco-complete for gravel. Or for a cheaper option use clay pebbles sold as non-clumping kitty litter or "Oil-Sorb" in automotive stores. It cost almost nothing and it has high iron content and excellent CEC value. Its also sold as "Turface" for use on baseball infields and by a million other names. 

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