# Substrate



## Betta1 (Jan 5, 2007)

I have a 20g long which I will soon be heavily planting, I will be relying on what I can find localy vs shipping so I am somewhat limited. My question is what substrate will I need to heavily plant. A sandy bottom with a gravel covering is what I've used to date and it's worked well with the plants from the LFS. I've heard of useing some sort of potting soil, is this required for a nicely planted tank?


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

This question has been answered several times in this forum......


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## Betta1 (Jan 5, 2007)

the search function doesn't work for me


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## TigerBarb12 (Jan 7, 2007)

Any substrate should work, but if ur heavily planting it, go with smaller gravel or sand


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## Guest (Feb 4, 2007)

I personally like Eco Complete. Its kind of pricey though, especially if you have to order online. Another option is ADA Aquasoil, which is also pricey. 

Small gravel or sand will work though, if you plan on using fertilizers in the water.


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## dcristalli90 (Mar 7, 2006)

i use eco complete for my planted tanks and it works very well, it comes in 20 pound bags.


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## MyraVan (Jan 19, 2005)

I'm one of the few people on this board who has actually used potting soil in tanks, and although it's certainly not REQUIRED, it works and is much cheaper than the commercially available planted tank substrates. 

For the soil I use:
50% sterilized topsoil from the garden center
50% aquatic soil, which looks to me just like regular potting soil but is meant to be used by pond people to plant their water lillies

For the gravel I use very cheap small gravel from the garden center, this is called alpine gravel or horticultural grit. At least that's what I have used; for the new tank I'm setting up I'm going to buy proper aquarium gravel which has rounded edges. The new tank will have some loaches that like to bury themselves, and I don't want it to be too rough on their skin.

I use about 1" of mixed soil, and 1" gravel. Grows plants well, DOESN'T turn the tank water yellow, DOESN'T create any ammonia spikes, DOESN'T make clean up difficult (just vacuum stuff off the top, don't stick your gravel vacuum deep into it). I did once use 100% topsoil instead of the 50-50 mix I use now, and that did turn the water yellow, so you do need to be a bit careful about soil choice...


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## Mazzy (Dec 16, 2006)

I often wondered about using potting soil. Thanks MyraVan for clearing that up!!  One question... what do you mean "sterilized" potting soil? Is it that way when you buy it or do you have to sterilize it and if so, how?
Thanks!!


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## MyraVan (Jan 19, 2005)

Mazzy said:


> what do you mean "sterilized" potting soil? Is it that way when you buy it or do you have to sterilize it and if so, how?
> Thanks!!


The bag says "sterilized topsoil", which means (I think) that they bake it to kill any seeds in it, so you don't end up with a lawn full of weeds (I guess most people use this to improve their lawns). I certainly don't sterilize it!


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