Question about sand

[Scottishscales]

1. Can i layer sand with gravel on top?

2. If i buy regular aquarium sand will plants grow in it?

 

[Ricky 1]

I don't think it's a good idea to mix sand and gravel, if you put a layer on your gravel it will just go under it and disappear, plants will grow in sand you can get plant tabs to put under the sand, plant tabs are a slow acting fertilizer.........

 

[dalto]

Yeah, you can combine them but they will just become mixed depending on what you have in that tank.

 

[Scottishscales]

All i have are tetras a pleco a gourami and a frog

 

[wildroseofky]

I would go with just the sand and no gravel. Lots of waste gets trapped in gravel and can cause water conditions problems when disturbed. Plants do fine in sand. All my tanks have black sand. Just add some root tabs every couple of months. Your cory would like the sand better than gravel. You could add some nice stones to add some hiding places.

 

[trennamw]

I have half sand half gravel. My only complaint is the sand settles down so I see more gravel than sand. Should have used 2:1 sand to gravel.

I like it with plants. I pull the crown a little above the sand and then put gravel around. I move the gravel to where the plants are, precisely because it catches more detritus, and where I don't have plants I clear the gravel to see clean white sand.

I also like the look ... White sand, a larger gravel of actual rock, red-brown assorted colors ... And some larger red brown stones. Looks very riverbed.

I wouldn't do it with colored aquarium gravels that are painted resin, as the sand chips the paint off.



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[Scottishscales]

I bought one bag of white sand and i have black gravel. I also have an air stone id like to use but i dont know if the air will move through the sand if i put it under it. So i was going to put a short layer of sand with the gravel on top or even just where the aur stone is.

 

[trennamw]

Again if the gravel is the typical aquarium colored gravel I wouldn't add sand to it. The paint chips off the gravel as it is, and the sand makes this happen more quickly. Looks really messy.

And if it's a plant substrate, check it ... I mixed black ADA aquasoil with sand and made a horrific mess. Since it's some sort of fired clay the sand wore it down into a powder with just a little mixing. The haze in the tank never cleared after a week of water changes and I had to throw it all out.

But real sand and real rock ... That works.


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[Scottishscales]

Ill start with the sand then and work my way up. Im going to be putti,g the sand in tomorrow and planting next weekend :] hopefully my fish will make it through this cycling it seems to be doing

"There's always a bigger fish." - Qui-Gon Jinn

 

[seove]

As others have stated, nature dictates that smaller particles will settle beneath the large particles. Mixing the two will just make your sand substrate look worse, imo. I switched to sand and really like it.

 

[Coursair]

My plants grow in sand just fine.


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[seove]

My plants grow in sand just fine. View attachment 256065View attachment 256067


Do you use CO2?

 

[Coursair]

My plants grow in sand just fine. View attachment 256065View attachment 256067


Do you use CO2?

Who me? I don't use CO2 but I did use a bit of Excel for a bit. Not really in a regular basis, just DDIY root tabs and regular liquid Ferts , like Flourish Comprehensive and API Leaf Zone.


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