# Substrate Decision



## RCShevalier (Oct 6, 2015)

After a long absence from the hobby I picked up a used 50 gallon aquarium and stand that I found on Kijiji. I am hoping to decorate this aquarium with live plants and wanted some input as to what substrate I should use. After having read the Beginners Guide on this site I decided that Fluorite might be the best fit for me. After checking out Big Als I believe that I have narrowed it down to these two options:

Black Sand:
http://www.bigalspets.ca/flourite-black-sand-7-kg.html

Black Gravel:
http://www.bigalspets.ca/flourite-black-7-kg.html

I am leaning towards the sand, but I've never used it in an aquarium before. Is there anything I need to be aware of with using it? Is one better than the other?

Also, how deep will the substrate need to be? The salesman at the store said three bags should be good for a standard 50 gallon, do you agree?

I really appreciate any input on this, and am not opposed to being steered in a different direction.

Thanks.


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## Wiccandove (May 19, 2012)

I've used the black flourite sand in my 10 gallon. I like it just be careful when you do water changes because its easy to suck it up lol. I also had live plants but it wasn't a "planted tank". I used about 1 - 1/2 inches of sand. The amount of bags you need it going to depend on how deep you want your substrate


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## Professor Monkey (Jan 8, 2015)

There's obviously going to be pros and cons for all of the many different substrates that are readily available.

I have become a fan of using an underlayer of dirt/clay that is capped with small grain gravel. A dirt substrate virtually eliminates the need for dosing nutrients and the gravel cap keeps things tidy as long as you aren't pulling out rooted plants. For a low maintenance planted aquarium I highly recommend researching the Walstad method (aka Natural Planted Tank).

In the past I have used Flourite gravel and had excellent success growing plants.

In the sand vs gravel arena... Sand is better for plants that have delicate roots and I think it also looks very nice, but as mentioned already, it can be more difficult to clean. Some fish, like corys, would also appreciate a softer substrate, but again it's easier for them to kick up sand particles and make a mess. Depending on the type of filter you are using, those sand particles could shorten the life of your impeller.

Gravel is definitely easier to clean, and also allows mulm (poop) to settle down into the gaps which then fertilizes the plants. Some plants don't root as easily in gravel.

Both substrates will work well. Make sure that you rinse them and get the dust particles under control before running filters, adding plants/fish, etc.


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## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

i Used flourite black sand it is simply amazing. it allows plants to grow so easily. I got runners due to ease of spread. although it is easy to suck up, i never really siphoned the bottom layer so i never really wasted any. i did spot cleaning with a turkey baster so no real issue for me. I say go with the sand. You have to clean ti for A LONG LONG TIME LOL! But it is totally worth it


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## RCShevalier (Oct 6, 2015)

Has anyone had any experience or heard anything about the National Geographic Sand?

http://www.petsmart.ca/supplies/gravel-sand/national-geographic-trade-aquarium-sand-zid36-21320/cat-36-catid-300072?var_id=36-21320&_t=pfm%3Dsearch%26pfmvalue%3Dfaceted

I bought two bags of this stuff when I thought I had made a decision to not go the live plant route, but am now considering the possibility of live plants down the road when I have the money to upgrade my lighting. Fortunately I have not opened the bags and could easily return it, but the price is significantly lower than the fluorite.

What about mixing the two? Would it be a bad idea to keep this sand, but also add some of the fluorite sand with it?


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## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

The thing about substrates is that you can use totally inert substrates for live plants. For inert substrates, people tend to use mineralized soil to help with nutrients. I found that if you have enough nutrients in the water column, plants should be ok. So that national geographic one should be ok. As far as I know, Play sand and Silica sand are both inert and people use them in planted tanks all the time.


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## bobjohnson (Apr 26, 2013)

I had both, 1 tank with gravel, 1 tank with sand. I prefer the sand more. It gives a more natural look to the aquarium, if youre going to keep shrimp or dwarf crayfish or catfish, they seem to like the sand more as well (easier for them to dig).


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## TOPuffers (Sep 18, 2015)

I have the Nat Geo sand in 2 tanks and am happy with it. One tank is all sand, the other is half gravel, half sand 'beach'. If I could do so easily I would remove the gravel as I am no longer a fan of a larger substrate.

As other have mentioned, sand is tricky to clean when compared with gravel.

Sand is great if you have shrimp or catfish/plecos, as they dig and explore the sand and my shrimp and plecos ignore the gravel. Plants anchor easily in sand, gravel can be hit or miss as I have had plants float free from the gravel. For small plants like baby tears and mosses, sand is the only substrate you can bury roots in.

Finally, if you have a planted tank and plan to include malaysian trumpet snails in your tank to help cycle the substrate, these snails can only burrow in sand. I find MTS have improved the health of the plants in my tank that has 50/50 gravel/sand, with the sand-side plants sending out runners and propagating. The gravel-side plants do not seem to send out runners at all.


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## bobjohnson (Apr 26, 2013)

MTS will burrow in gravel but not until they get bigger. I have only 1 in my gravel tank and 90% of the time i see him, its only the tip of his shell, the rest of him is under the gravel.

In my sand tank though I never saw them even though I had maybe 10 or 15, they were always burrowed completely. Only when I tore it down did they come out of the sand, unfortunately I forgot I had put them in there and they all died when the sand dried out.


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## TOPuffers (Sep 18, 2015)

@ bobjohnson

That is so cute - the snail poking out like Jaws from the gravel ^_^

I did not realize the bigger snails would venture into the gravel. We have 4 big MTS that are longer than 1 inch and the seem to stick to the sandy side of our tank. Maybe our snails are just lazy and given a choice, they stay in the sand with their babies.

In that case perhaps sand or gravel are fine for MTS.


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## kyle (Oct 9, 2006)

Another cheap option is black blasting sand sold at farm supply stores. its used for sand blasting and lots of plant people have used it usually with top soil or miracle grow organic potting soil bottom layer capped with the nice black blasting sand to keep the bottom layer down. just dont try moving thing around too often


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## bobjohnson (Apr 26, 2013)

Mine is about 2.5 inches long, his face is bigger than any of the gravel. Mine is weird though because he only very very rarely goes on to the glass, where as most people say theirs climb the glass frequently. I think i have seen him on the glass maybe 3 times in 3 years.


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