Dirt and Substrate questions?

I am setting up a high tech 55 gallon and so on. I will use dirt to get the plants growing with clay and all. My question is what should I cap it with?

I have gravel in my 29 which it looks okay. I like the way sand looks in a tank. I would use play sand or pool sand from lowes to cap my dirt. I will have congo tetras and Corey's in my 55 with a heavy amount of plants.

Give me your ideas on what is best sand or gravel?

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Comment by Anthony Piti on April 14, 2013 at 11:30pm: Both sand and gravel work well from my experience. For a gravel cap you would use a 1 inch over 1 inch of dirt and for sand it would be best to use 1 1/2 inch cap over 1 inch of dirt. Plants like hair grass and other carpeting plants love sand. The hair grass in my 2.5 shrimp tank is carpeting through pool filter sand nicely. And cories love to dig through sand as well so always a plus there. Hope this helps.

Comment by Fry on April 15, 2013 at 2:22pm: I use silica sand to cap my dirt, it is really cheap you can get a 50pound bag at most home building stores for 4 or 5 bucks same stuff the pet store selling for way more. It comes pretty much clean, i just put it in a bucket outside stick the hose in till it hits the bottom under the sand and let it run for a bit, then just put it in the tank with a cup, I use 2 or 3 inches. you can even add it when the tank is full it will just sink to the bottom if you pour it is slowly stuff works great. and when you plant in it the stuff works like quick sand and fills the holes around the plant