Sand Substrate

[Fintastic!]

Do I need to put anything like cat litter under my sand? I'll have some plants but won't be too heavily planted. Can I just put my sand straight in? Does around 2 inches at the back falling to 1 inch at the front sound right? Thanks a million!

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Look into adding some laterite under the sand, you don't need a lot. I would also go a tad deeper with the sand. 1 inch in the front would be a bit too shallow to support most rooted plants. if you are worried about anaerobic pockets with deeper sand you can add burrowing snails.

 

[KittyKat]

What size is the tank? For large tanks, I prefer to use 4-6 inches at the back, falling to 1.5-2 inches at the front. For smaller tanks, I use 4 inches at the back, down to 0.5-1 inch at the front (which isn't enough for plants at the front).

 

[Fintastic!]

It's 180 litres Kittykat. Should I go deeper? Pardon my ignorance TwoTank but what's laterite? Thanks guys.

 

[KittyKat]

Fin, if you want to keep rooted plants, they will benefit from deeper substrate. It can also be difficult to get plants to stray in in substrates which are not that deep.

 

[Fintastic!]

Thanks Kittykat.

 

[BigbruiserAl]

Agree with kitty on the depth and to answer your question there is no need what so ever to add anything under the sand. Some people have used cat litter to help with plant growth etc but a normal planted tank will do just fine with sand only

 

[Fintastic!]

Thanks BbAl! I go with just sand so. I can start on that today.

 

[Geoff-]

I went with sand only, my rooted plants are very hard to dig up, after pulling a sword out I was astounded at how far its root system went under the sand.

2" to 3" sand depth. I solved the problem of "anaerobic pocket toxic death bubble" by simply not worrying about it, and it hasn't happened

 

[TwoTankAmin]

100% natural laterite, the same clay material in which plants thrive in tropical streambeds in nature. When added to aquarium gravel, provides an ideal all-natural planting substrate for aquatic plants. Simply use 1 oz. per gallon of aquarium water.

Put it on the bottom glass before you add substrate of choice on top of it.

 

[Fintastic!]

Wow Geoff, it will be interesting to see if my plants do as well! TwoTank, that looks very handy but after my false alarm today I now have my sand and water in so it's too late. But thanks anyway!