With my regular gravel substrate, am I limited...

[gfink]

With my regular gravel substrate, am I limited to plants that absorb nutrients through their leaves?

Currently all of my plant selections have been things you can anchor to wood or that were capable of free floating.

For example, I have my java fern anchored to driftwood, and my Anubias and water sprite anchored in gravel (to keep from floating away)

Will regular white (estes?) gravel support other low light plants? There are lots on plantgeek.com, but it doesn't mention root requirements.

Thanks!

 

[Purrbox]

You can still grow rooted plants with regular gravel. Just make sure to use some root tabs to provided the necessary nuturients that is missing in your substrate. This may not be strictly necessary for all rooted plants, but should help out plants that are heavier root feeders.

 

[Jchillin]

Ditto, I currently have swords and cyrpts in my gravel. One trick to get your substrate enriched with nutrients (mulm...detrius) is to reduce gravel vac's, especially in the areas around the roots. I have Estes as well.

Reducing the amount of gravel vac's is another benefit of the planted tank.