Upgrading to plants - Adding the correct substrate??

[bman]

My 20 gallon tank has recently finished cycling, and I have recently decided that live plants would be a nicer change to the plastic crap I have in there now. Actually, one of the cheap fake plants is a fabric that seems to be getting some discolorment that is unappealing.

My problem is that I put in some standard gravel, that is colord in blues and greens, but is nonetheless, large and probably unsupportive to live plants. Depth is around 2 inches.

I was thinking about some dwarf sagittaria subulata to start; if I purchase from aquariumplants.com, I can get 10 plants, (Seems like a lot).

What, and how do I add the necessary substrate to the tank to support the plants I would like to have?

I was thinking about adding some eco-complete to maybe just one half if the tank. Maybe just push the gravel over, dump the eco in(through a tube as to not disturb the clarity of the water), and then slide the gravel back over. It should then be ready for the dwarf sags.

As a side note, my filtration is a penguin 150 with the bio-wheel HOB, and the lighting is actually a dual tube NO fluorescent 4 foot fixture. Since the tank is only 30 inches long, the light does hang over on both sides. (So wpg is not known)

Also, If I add plants, should I pull out the 4" bubbler? Will I be adding way too much o2 with that?

I have five fish, 1 - molly, 4 - mickey mouse, and 1 - angel.

Thanks

 

[travis simonson]

I've added substrate in the manner you're thinking of and it worked well. Since your tank is newly cycled you don't have to worry about stirring up and pockets of toxic gas buried in your substrate so I don't see any problems other than stirring up a bit of gunk, but again, it's new so there probably isn't much.

You can leave the bubbler since you're not injecting CO2 and don't have to worry about it outgassing beyond normal dissolution levels. You can't really have too much O2 in a planted tank IME

 

[hashbaz]

I would advise against the "semi mixed" gravel. You will soon become addicted to live plants and will want to grow tons of them. At this point, you will wish you had gone with 100% ecocomplete because you can not easily separate it out.

PS, Have you seen the price of shipping? Buying plants online is expensive.

 

[muddlehead]

i think i have heard of people putting eco complete beneath an inch or so of sand to support plants is this true?? but as i understand it sand isnt the best for plants anyways

 

[bman]

What is the problem with eco-complete underneath a layer of gravel? By my research, eco-complete is black. I do not care to have a floor that color; I much prefer the blue and green gravel, even if it mixed with black.

I don't necessarily agree with the statement that buying plants online is expensive. If I buy the plants I want in particular, I would be getting 10 of them, total with shipping $25. The LFS wants about $4-$6 for plants that are similar, but not exactallly what I want.

I have not heard of anyone's posts that mention plants with sand. I also see no real nutrient value in having it.

 

[LAGlocker]

Yes people put eco complete or other plant susbtrates under layers of sand, pool filter sand being the most common. some such as I just have the sand as a substrate and use root tabs or regular fertilizer instead of a plant substrate. I use just sand, and have no problems growing plants, I dose ferts regularly, also use root tabs, and have a decent amount of lighting on my tanks. this along with diy co2 in them allow me to get good growth on my plants.

 

[Crusis]

i think i have heard of people putting eco complete beneath an inch or so of sand to support plants is this true?? but as i understand it sand isnt the best for plants anyways

I suppose in reality this statement is true, as the expensive substrates will grow plants extremely well. I have only 100 pounds of playsand in my planted community tank, however, and everything is growing very well.

I dose the water with trace elements every fourth or fifth water change, inject co2 into the HOB filter, and have 130W of light for the 75G tank. I'm certainly pleased with the results.

 

[muddlehead]

how thick is your sand??

 

[LAGlocker]

Mine is between 5 to 6 inches thick through out most of my tank. Many on here have told me that it is too deep, and doesnt look good. But personally I like how it looks, and have had no problems with any anerobic bacteria, plants are growing fine, have a mass of roots that you can see in the bottom of the tank, and the snails arent dying or staying above the sand.

 

[azn_fishy55]

I am a fan of layered substrates,the tank I have has soil on the bottom then shult's aquatic soil then some sand.I think layering substrates is a cheap and good idea.So layering eco-complete IMO would be a good idea.

 

[malkore]

What is the problem with eco-complete underneath a layer of gravel? By my research, eco-complete is black. I do not care to have a floor that color; I much prefer the blue and green gravel, even if it mixed with black.

I don't necessarily agree with the statement that buying plants online is expensive. If I buy the plants I want in particular, I would be getting 10 of them, total with shipping $25. The LFS wants about $4-$6 for plants that are similar, but not exactallly what I want.

I have not heard of anyone's posts that mention plants with sand. I also see no real nutrient value in having it.

Nothing wrong with eco under gravel, except that it WILL mix. No doubt about it it will mix, and then you'll have black, blue and green gravel.
I for one do not care for clown gravel (un-natural colors), but this is your tank, and the ONLY person who needs to love it is you.

Now, about sand: sand is a general term, and thus it depends what 'kind' of sand you use, as to whether it'll help or hurt your plants. Typical playsand, which is very fine and silica based, isn't a good choice. Too fine, so it compacts, and suffocates roots, killing or stunting plants. However, pool filter sand is much coarser, but still finer than any gravel, and works rather well for being natually empty of nutrients.
Tahitian moon sand works well too, because it's very lightweight and won't compact even with its 'smaller than pool filter sand' grain size.

As for buying plants online: the reason it can be more expensive is because of shipping. If you're close enough to where you're ordering from (like 1 state away) then you can easily go with USPS priority mail, and the plants will arrive fine. But if you live further away, you'll need air-mail, and that starts at $18. But the online vendors always have a broader selection than either of the LFS's here, and when ordering a LOT of plants, even paying the airmail shipping can still keep it cheaper than the LFS, or at the least be 'worth it'.