I am going to be setting up a 46 bowfront and i was wondering how much substrate would I need. My thoughts are to layer the tank with careb sea 1 20lb bag tahitian moon on the bottom, 2 bags carib sea planted eco complete in the middle and 1 other 20lb tahitian moon on top. thanks for any ideas or suggestions.
How much substrate
- Thread starter steve617
- Start date
Personally layering substrate is a pain in the ass, it just all gets mixed up in the end. From personal experience... I have a 55g densly planted tank and i use aquariumplants.com's substrate. Its about 1.2-2.8mm so its a small grain so it wouldnt be the greastest to use with larger fish but it still does a good job. It comes in 3 colors and it has minerals in it that help with plant growth. Its reasonably priced too. Thats what i use and my plants thrive in it. I was gonna layer substrate too when i started but its just not worth it, it gets mixed up anyways. I bought a 5 gallon pail for my 55 and its plenty. The plant anchors they have work very nicely too in the substrate. It doesnt break down at all either.
A good rule of thumb for planted tanks is 1.5-2lbs per gallon for good root growth under the gravel, that should be about 3-3.5 inches of gravel depth.
Thanks I just checked them out looks like a good deal. I'll have to calculate but I may get by with a 4 lb pail. Defiently cheaper and easier.
