Sand substrate problems

[Pjv81]

What’s up everyone, I’ve been having issues keeping carpeting plants in my sand substrate, it’s just play sand that has been washed multiple times before putting into the tank. I believe the sand it too hard for the carpeting plants to sprout and spread and have finally give up on them.

My question is has anyone used a small container like plastic or ceramic/glass dish before and buried it into the sand and had like eco complete inside the dish and planted carpeting plants in there.

Anyone use sand and have had great success with plants carpeting.

I am currently on no Co2 and believe that could also be a big factor. I use aquarium co-ops easy green and also root tabs on the sand around the plants to help them grow and venture off.

 

[jjohnwm]

I'm far from a "plant guy", but I have had decent success in many tanks over the years with plants growing quite well in various types of sand; pool filter sand is my favourite by far. It's quite clean, and is very dense and heavy so it sinks quickly and stays put. This also makes it easier to rinse thoroughly before use.

I've also been quite happy with tanks using silica sand, but find the stark white colour quite unattractive. Some types of sand sold for use in sand-blasters works well, others are far too abrasive and sharp-edged. Black Diamond sand is one type made from slag...the waste material from smelters...and some folks report good luck with it, but others report an oily slick on the surface of the water when using it. Horrid stuff, IMHO.

The absolute worst sand to use, IMHO, is play sand. It isn't as dense as other choices, so can be stirred up by fish, by cleaning procedures, by water movement, etc. and then sucked up into filters. It does a number on the impellers of water pumps. It's extremely dirty and requires multiple rinses before use, and this is made more complicated by its relatively light weight that keeps the particles suspended in the water for longer. Worst of all, play sand has a tendency to pack into a hard solid slab that plant roots have difficulty penetrating.

I've grown many plants in simple clay pots, with a small handful of potting soil in the bottom and then capped off with pool filter sand. Works like a charm, but not as easy to hide as you might wish.