Sand

[that drumin guy]

Will plants grow in sand? I'm asking because I know with gravel water can flow more easily through it but sand I'm not sure how many nutrients and such can get down there. <-- some random smilies eh?

 

[Vitaliy]

It really depends on the plants, some plants that heavily depend on feeding with their roots would do better in a gravel based substrate while some plants that do not feed much from their roots would do better in sand. Generally what I have observed is that the “pro” planted tanks are usually a mix of number of different substrates: natural color gravel, sand, and usually special plant substrates rich in Iron.

Another common thing is keeping about 1.5”-2” of gravel and about 1” of sand on top of that. Which usually gives good root substrate and great natural looks of the sand.

 

[that drumin guy]

The thing with thegravel underneath is that I wouldnt want the gravel to start showing. If it did it would be a pain to take out. Is there a list somewhere with the plants that will do well in sand?

 

[Hakon]

If the sand is too compact you can have sandsnail in the substrate. They digs around the roots and gives them O2. But I have never had any problem using sand in the tank.

 

[TigerAro]

If you DO use sand, be sure to stir it regularly, because oxygen get beneath the sand, it becomes trapped, creating a dirty air bubble. Co2, oxygen and other substances can be stuck in a toxic air pocket. If you stir it regularly, it lets out the small amount of build up, which should not harm your fish unless they are hypersensitive to ammonia and such.

 

[HarleyK]

Howdy,

I have sand in my tank, it's heavily planted, and these plants do perfectly well:

Anubia nana
Cryptocoryne beckettii, C. ciliata, C. wendtii
Echinodorus barthii
Lilaeopsis mauritiana
Pistia stratiotes
Vallisneria spiralis

In general, sand is the best substrate for plants, period. I use play sand

Stirring sand is silly. Just put some Malaysian Trumpet Snails (Melanoides Tuberculata) in your tank. Don't worry, they won't bother you, you'll never see them, they live in the gravel/sand. They keep the substrate free of organic matter, and they aerate it doing so. No tank should be without them! I have sand, and I don't even have to vacuum. My filter & snails clean the tank for me.

Layering sand & gravel is also silly, since the sand will settle between the gravel, and it all ends up as a mixture.

However, I did use laterite as a bottom layer for fertilization. But a substrate fertilizer is a must for heavily planted tanks, no matter if you use sand or gravel.


HarleyK

 

[Gamefishin]

That the main reason why I would never put sand over gravel is because you'll never be able to seperate the two without a lot of work...and I mean a lot or work.

A lot of people like the way sand look but hate to see the poop from fishes on the sand. My brother has a catfish (not sure the name) and that guy cleans the tank up real good. Every morning you'll notice that there's less poop from the night before, well it's got to be the catfish because there's no snails, sucker, or anything else I can think of that'll will eat poop....

In the spring I'll go to a dark color sand, this way the poop will not be too visible. I'll get those snails too to clean up the tank bottoms. My first time with sand was a failure because I had no knowlegde that you need to rinse sand......rookie mistake.

 

[fishboy]

i use sand in my planted tank and my plants do just fine, i have 2.5 watts per gallon and the yeast/sugar CO2 deal and my plants look great

-banana plant
-java moss
-dwarf rush
-japanese rush
-dragons breath
-anubias

 

[HarleyK]

fishboy,

I don't know about the banana plant, but I'd say the others would certainly grow fine w/o CO2. Did you notice any difference when you installed the CO2 system?

HarleyK