Choosing a Soil/Plants

[JimmyCrackHorn]

Hello people,

I recently bought a new 80gal tank and I plan making it a planted tank. I am new to planted aquariums and was hoping for some advice on what substrate to go with. I'm speaking in terms of brands, I've done some googling and there are tons of different brands and types of substrate for planted tanks. I really dont know where to start.
As for the type of plants I also haven't settled on what to get, but I do know that I want the tank be amazonian. Since thats where the fish I will have are from.
All help is appreciated.

 

[fisheatfish]

I would not recommend Fluval Stratum...great for growing plants but way too light. It's what I'm stuck with. If I were to start over, I'd go with ADA Amazonia.

From what I've seen, Amazonian tanks are heavily decorated with driftwood...not necessarily with plants. Having brought that up,maybe the substrate is not important for your setup.

 

[All-Happy]

Ada all the way

 

[JimmyCrackHorn]

Ill check out ADA this week sounds like thats what i need, I have collected a ton of driftwood this weekend so that parts all covered.

 

[benzjamin13]

I would recommend ADA. It's pricey, but you practically can't fail with it.

 

[Fat Homer]

I would maybe look into plants first, then choose a substrate...

Main reason being that you may decide to go with only un-demanding plants which dont necessarily need nutirient rich soil such as Anubias...

Also, since this is your first venture into planted tanks, maybe experiment with a small 10G - 20G setup first... coz on an 80G when things go awry you are going to have a much harder time getting things back on track...

I only say that because then can be quite a steep learning curve to planted tanks depending how deep you get into, but just know once its all in check it can be a real joy...

 

[tarheel96]

ADA is difficult to beat.

I've used Eco Complete in a few planted tanks with good results. It comes in a sealed bag with live bacteria although that's of little use unless your tank new. There's an Eco Complete 'Red' and a 'Black'. You'd need several bags for a 90 gallon ... you might consider mixing them if you like color. You can mix in 40-50% regular substrate to reduce the cost but I'd use gravel of similar size, not sand.

https://www.caribsea.com/caribsea_ecoplanted.html

 

[West1]

ADA is one of the best, I have used it and it was awesome.

I would figure out if you plan on going low tech or high tech, then look to see what plants catch your eye. There are many remedies to soil from diy clay to prepared stuff.

A good hint when shopping for plants is its color. Light green are typically high tech requirements where darker green tend to be entry level aka low tech.

For plants you will want to focus reading on lighting, even on a low tech/basic setup.

some good sources to buy is
repidled
nanoboxreef
current usa plant+
to list some

last thing on soil... depending how bad you want to have a maintenance free or all hands soil is where the high cost of soil is justified imo. You can get away with cheap soil but it may cloud the water longer, cause tank crashes or you may have to place more DIY fertilizer tablets... basically more maintenance.

GL, this site has mediocre info on planted tanks but it can provide a great foundation for entry level enthusiast as well!

 

[Aqua Nut]

Yeah ADA is the way to go. I have a few bags here as i am getting ready to start a big build. Only thing with ADA amazonia is that it leaches ammonia into the aquarium for the first week or so. This can make adding fish right away a bit of a challenge but ADA has a series of bacteria that really helps with the process.