Ok guys, I am trying to start a planted tank on a budget, what should I use as substrate? Sand? Or that expensive flourite noone seems to have? Or that aquatic mulch at lowes. Help
Substrate
- Thread starter luckydud13
- Start date
i have flourite in my 55..... ..... .... i think i paid like $15-20 a bag for this stuff..... i call it "my" tank but it was a bday present for my gf.. but im the one that takes care of it and does all the work... she wanted the fancy gravel for her $3 underwater weeds... yeah.... so theres like $150 of smashed rocks in the bottom...
the plants started growing a lot better once the $25 shoplight from homedepot and the $12 bulbs were added...
if i had to do it over again there would be $15 worth of peagravel in the bottom of the tank... planted tank ninjas are all about the flourite... but IMO... every pond/lake/river/stream i have ever been around have all had plants growing in them... i dont think ive ever seen one with a flourite in it...
decent bulbs and a capful of flourish from time to time FTW
the plants started growing a lot better once the $25 shoplight from homedepot and the $12 bulbs were added...
if i had to do it over again there would be $15 worth of peagravel in the bottom of the tank... planted tank ninjas are all about the flourite... but IMO... every pond/lake/river/stream i have ever been around have all had plants growing in them... i dont think ive ever seen one with a flourite in it...
decent bulbs and a capful of flourish from time to time FTW
Since i have burned up 2 power heads and 2 hob filters this month from getting sand in the propeller i would not go that route. I do have a planted tank that has regular black gravel that I have had running for a few years and I am currently growing just amazon swords in. But I have grown anubias, dwarf swords, and potted hair grass in there with no problems. The key to a planted tank is lighting and then fertilizers second. I will not mention any names but there is some people on here that get way to technical about lighting. Basically and i said basically all you need is around 2 watts per gallon and you should have pretty good luck with your planted tank. I like power compact lighting. You need a color range around 6500k on your lighting what ever you choose. i hope this helps and i hope that the planted aquaria police don't see this. Or you can follow what they say and spend a few hundred on substrate and lighting.
