I am thinking of doing a planted tank but I have no idea what I should use for a substrate. Iheard of people using gravel but I do not know if that is a good choice or not. Any helpful info would be greatly appreciated. 
what is a good substrate?
- Thread starter yonk420
- Start date
For best results use Eco-Complete and/or Flourite as your base substrate. You can use them as-is or just as a base and have either sand or gravel as your top substrate.
I like Florabase because it makes your water softer, and buffers your pH. Has similiar effects to driftwood, but dosn't turn the water tea-colored.
Infact, I will use a base layer of Flourite or Ecocomplete, then cover that with Florabase, then cover that with a thin layer of gravel.
Or you can always fork out a little more money and get ADA substrate. Expensive, but worth every penny. 
Howdy,
I use sand from the Home Depot and laterite mixed into the bottom layer. 110 oz laterite for a 220 gal tank. This is a new tank, but I used it before successfully in 10, 20, and 80 gal planted tanks. Don't forget to add some liquid fertilizer on a regular basis later on. Also, pay special attention to your lighting!!!!!!!
Happy plantgrowing,
HarleyK
I use sand from the Home Depot and laterite mixed into the bottom layer. 110 oz laterite for a 220 gal tank. This is a new tank, but I used it before successfully in 10, 20, and 80 gal planted tanks. Don't forget to add some liquid fertilizer on a regular basis later on. Also, pay special attention to your lighting!!!!!!!
Happy plantgrowing,
HarleyK
aniki said:Or you can always fork out a little more money and get ADA substrate. Expensive, but worth every penny.
Howdy,
FWIW: I had great problems with the ADA substrate. I still doubt that these problems were caused by my Dupla substrate fertilizer, but I have to mention it at this point for the records. I had blue algae (lots!!!), then thread algae, the tank never really equilibrated in an entire year. Then I threw the crap out and got sand. Also, the water chemistry is off for the first weeks due to the ion exchange properties (follow the kH & gH closely). And if you have bottom dwellers, they will tear out your plants since the substrate is not any heavier than peat moss. I for my part have never seen corys in Amano's tanks .... must be for a reason.
HarleyK
I'm sorry to hear that you had problems with ADA substrate. I have had great success with ADA and keep about a half dozen corys along with 5 diff. species of shirmp on the bottom and never had problems. I guess it just isn't for everybody.
You can use gravel, two cheap AGA 40w light strips and some low light plants like
anubias plants. With some flourish plant food and flourish excell.
Or you can go extreme with a better substrate like seachem flourite and some PC lights maybe some co2.. and lots of product..
anubias plants. With some flourish plant food and flourish excell.
Or you can go extreme with a better substrate like seachem flourite and some PC lights maybe some co2.. and lots of product..
aniki said:
Howdy,
That is interesting. Did you use a substrate fertilizer? Regular fertilizer? Do you have a CO2 hooked up? What size tank, what filter, what is your tap water hardness, and - not that it really matters - do you have the "Amazon" substrate, or another one? I also had shrimp, Caridina japonica, about 15 in an 80 gal tank.
Thanks,
HarleyK
on edit (and most importantly): What plants do you keep? I had glossostigma elatinoides, which got uprooted a lot. Bigger plants like Echinodorus or Cryptocorynen did fine. But you don't need the ADA substrate to keep them happy.