Best Substrate For Plants?

[SO19Firearms]

No matter what subtrate one uses, the plants will eventually use up many of the available nutrients and they will have to be replaced.

No flames
The higher a substrates CEC the better equiped it is to take on nutrients or replenish itself - Dosing the water column at the same time and not just relying on a substrate will do this. Where this theory falls down a touch is that if it's a high quality substrate like ADA you're unlikely to add back in all that good quality ammonia unless you use something like TPN+, the higher quality root tabs (osmosis type) etc
There's a good section on James' planted tank on taking a cheap clay (akadama) and pre-loading it with nutrient too.

For me sand is fine, nutrient tabs every couple of months around the roots of the plants that need them, and liquid fert for the rest. Simples!

I can see your point - A root tablet wouldnt help out anubias or a java fern etc - but a quality liquid fert will feed all plants without the need of root tabs.
There are certainly other good reasons to use root tablets, but not because a liquid fert wont feed all plants. (IMO)

 

[Tonyb111111]

No matter what subtrate one uses, the plants will eventually use up many of the available nutrients and they will have to be replaced.

No flames
The higher a substrates CEC the better equiped it is to take on nutrients or replenish itself - Dosing the water column at the same time and not just relying on a substrate will do this. Where this theory falls down a touch is that if it's a high quality substrate like ADA you're unlikely to add back in all that good quality ammonia unless you use something like TPN+, the higher quality root tabs (osmosis type) etc
There's a good section on James' planted tank on taking a cheap clay (akadama) and pre-loading it with nutrient too.

For me sand is fine, nutrient tabs every couple of months around the roots of the plants that need them, and liquid fert for the rest. Simples!

I can see your point - A root tablet wouldnt help out anubias or a java fern etc - but a quality liquid fert will feed all plants without the need of root tabs.
There are certainly other good reasons to use root tablets, but not because a liquid fert wont feed all plants. (IMO)

Ive just started using TPN + so do you think this will get rid of the need for the tabs

 

[SO19Firearms]

Ive just started using TPN + so do you think this will get rid of the need for the tabs

TPN+ is quality so you certainly won't need the tabs....but nutrients are nutrients so it's all good!

 

[joeyh51]

Cheers for all the replies. What kind of sand is a good substrate to use then?
I've had a look and there are all sorts, but as a few people have said I don't want to get some that will compact.

Also I'm filling a 180L... how much would be a good amount to get?

 

[KittyKat]

Cheers for all the replies. What kind of sand is a good substrate to use then?

If you want just sand, then any is fine. I have used white play sand, plain play sand, "sharp" play sand, last time I actually went for sharp sand instead of play sand because it was no different from the sharp play sand and for plastering sand because I wanted the substrate to look redder and be a bit less sharp.

Also I'm filling a 180L... how much would be a good amount to get?

I like to use 3-6 cm (1-2 inches) at the front and 10-15+ cm (4-6 inches) at the back. To calculate how much you will need:
length of tank in cm * depth of tank in cm * height of substrate in cm / 1000 = litres of sand needed

To convert litres of sand to kg, multiply litres by 1.2-1.5, depending on how fine the sand is. 1.2 is about right for most dough sand.

 

[Rooted]

i put sand in my tank and bought some liquid growth formula if that wont work the rooted tabs are the best bet.

 

[joeyh51]

Where's best to pick some up from? I'll be going to the LFS this weekend.

 

[KittyKat]

Where's best to pick some up from? I'll be going to the LFS this weekend.

A DIY shop or something similar: I paid around 10 GBP for 80+ litres of sand from B&Q and Homebase, instead of the closer to 100 GBP that I would have spent at an LFS.

 

[joeyh51]

Ok so I got some play sand from B&Q.... it's all in the tank and filter is going. The water is really murky which I was expecting, how long does it take to clear up, and also is it safe to add fish at this point? I've got a smaller tank that has a really bad filter so really need to move them asap.

 

[KittyKat]

Did you wash it before you added it? Normally, if you wash the sand until the water is running clear, then wash it again, and fill the tank gently, without disturbing the sand, the water should be relatively clear.

For the moment, fill a spare filter or the filter for the larger tank with fine filter wool and change that every couple of hours until the water clears. If the filter for the larger tank is cycled, remember to keep the media in water until you put it back into the filter.