Comment by Peter on April 19, 2013 at 10:31pm

u can get pool filter sand, play sand, flourite black sand, black diamond blasting sand. plants do good in any kind. carpeting plants can grow well in sand.

as for which will be best for ur fish its ur choice. but cus ur gonna get corys get some sand

Comment by Anchorboy on April 19, 2013 at 10:43pm

I was reading plants do not like sand, because it dosent allow oxygen to get down in there. Which I could be wrong? Plus I don't want air pockets to form which is a huge concern.

Comment by LED on April 20, 2013 at 4:08am

as stated before its best to go with substrate that is at or between 2mm to 5 mm in average diameter.  if too small then you have compacted sand like situation with small nutrient leeching.  too large and you have lots of nutrient leech and possible dirt floating around.  stay in that range and you should be good

Comment by DePreston on April 27, 2013 at 1:51am

What is the idea of dirting a tank?  I have had aquariums for many years and have been using the same gravel, natural color, for all those years.  I have plants doing great and would never think of putting dirt in my tank.  What are the benefits.  The way some people talk here it is like believing in global warming or something. You just have to accept it without any proof. With all the cleaning  you have to do to start a tank, why bother?

Comment by LED on April 27, 2013 at 12:06pm

One of the main books for dirted tanks is by Diana Walstad

http://www.amazon.com/Ecology-Planted-Aquarium-Diana-Walstad/dp/096...

here's a playlist I compiled which talks about the main points of the book

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLs9co0GFFPKj6n7mM2ZwMbnQZAr4Y...

Comment by LED on April 27, 2013 at 12:11pm

btw if you look at my tank, no, i dont have dirt in my main display tank.  but it is doing wonderfully.  however I'm using dry salt ferts, highlight, decent plant substrate, and injected CO2.  i have plants in here that would not do well in plain epoxy coated gravel.

Comment by LED on May 7, 2013 at 1:26pm

I agree some of your comments Lee-Roy however there are some elements to a substrate that I disagree with.

Sand is a general term for size of substrate, however in this hobby sand tends to be known as primarily silicon dioxide grains.  Silicon dioxide does not have a decent CEC (cation exchange capacity) so its not a good substrate for plants in terms of a nutrient holder/releaser.  People tend to use sand as a cap for its ability to act as a barrier to the lower layers such as dirt or laterite, etc.  Another reason for sand is for aesthetics or even as a small grain size for tiny plants such as HC (Hemianthus Callitrichoides aka dwarf baby tears).  While I personally dont think sand in the lower layers of a substrate mixture isnt necessary people do use it as a mixture.

Silt -  silt particles range between 0.0039 to 0.0625 mm and are made of quartz and feldspar. I think that most planted tankers do NOT use silt in their tanks.  its far too light, and if disturbed it floats around.  the other negative to this substance is it doesnt have any truely valuable nutrient aquatic plants need.  Silt in an aquatic plant setting is virtually inert.  I suggest never intentionally adding silt to a planted tank.

clay however  yes thats fine =)

it seems that most commercial substrates tend to have a size of 2mm to 5 mm.  For a dirted aquarium its usually best to say within this range to promote nutrient slow leaching.

if we want to talk about good substrates then maybe we should have an article on what constitutes a good/ great substrate along with examples of commercial products and DIY solutions.

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