Starting a planted tank

[Jlira]

So, I was thinking about starting a new planted tank and released I had no idea what I was doing. I know I need clay and I know I want dirt, but what kind of substrate should I use? Black sand or floramax? Any suggestions? (5.5 gal tank)

 

[GodFan]

So, I was thinking about starting a new planted tank and released I had no idea what I was doing. I know I need clay and I know I want dirt, but what kind of substrate should I use? Black sand or floramax? Any suggestions? (5.5 gal tank)

Hi and welcome to the addictive world of planted tanks!
You do not need clay but itbis beneficial. Also a dirted tank can be a bit more tricky than a standard (well I dont think it is if you remember to watch for ammonia) but very rewarding.
What I would recomend is getting a bag of miracle grow organic potting soil. In a 5 gallon you will want to remove kost of the wood chips. An inch of this will be the bottom layer. Then you will want to cap it. I discourage people from using sand because it takes away one large benefit of dirted aquariums (or so I am told) in mine I used a mix of floramax, plain gravel, and a tiny bit of ecocomplete. Depending on what plants you want and what lighting level I would recomend either eco or plain gravel. Floramax is very very very dirty stuff.
Everything beyond that depends on your plants and lighting level.

 

[Fresh2o]

Here is a link to setting up a dirt tank (copied from a post by aqua_chem):
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=152027&styleid=1
You can also omit the dirt and use a plant specific substrate (EcoComplete, etc)

 

[Rivercats]

I've done dirted tanks for quite some time now and honestly I suggest not going with dirt if this is you first planted tank. In a tank that small you could just do a nice commercial plant substrate. I use Eco Complete in my tanks as either my sole substrate or as a cap to my dirted tanks. The one nice thing about Eco Complete is they have normal and fine grade which is similar to sand but not quite that small plus you don't rinse it. Just open the bag and use.

Commercial plant substrates have a high CEC, the same as dirt. CEC is cation exchange capacity which means it can absorb nutrients from detris and water and hold them for use by plants.