sand and aqua soil substrate?

[bfreggens]

ok so i am trying to plan out my first small (20gal) tank and im not sure what substrate to use so that i can get a carpet plant, something like clover, to cover the bottom of the tank. i was thinking maybe a layer of sand and aqua soil on top of that (not sure of how thick each layer should be). i figure the sand wont compact too much and the aqua soil is what the plant could take hold to? i dont really know much about all of this so any and all information is wanted.

if there is another thread exactly like this please let me know so i can delete this and go to it. i'd hate to annoy people by clogging up the site.

thanks!!

 

[Fel]

I recently just set up a 10 gallon using nothing but one bag of eco complete, cost about $20 and gave me about 2.5 inches of depth.
Much easier than trying to set up any kind of sand/soil substrate and probably about the same cost with a small tank

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[CleverBs]

I am in the same boat right now. The sand layer below the soil would work if the sand grain is smaller then the grain of the soil. heres the issue I see. you have to poke the sand a lot so that it gets air into it. Rooting plants help with this but that wont be right away. I would just use the soil and skip the sand. its not really needed.

I am going to use rocks to build my areas up the way I want. I have a bunch of flat rocks that are different thicknesses.