sand over fourite in freshwater planted?

[fireman731]

Hey guys,

So I have a 28 gal stocked with 5 black skirts, 3 neons, 6 corys and a bristlenose pleco 5". I currently have gravel.. and.. lots of nitrates. I change about 5 gal twice a week. I wanted to switch to sand to maybe help cut back on some of the nitrates, cause my java fern and swords aren't really nitrate reducing plants. Plus I kinda hate how its aquascaped right now. Can I put down a small 1 inch layer or so of fluorite or laterite for the plant roots and then about an inch and a half or two of sand ontop of in/ it? Or would that just create gas pockets and stuff to the point where I should just do full sand? The sealant in one of the corners is starting to get spots missing so I was going to empty the tank, clean and reseal it and then do a new substrate.

 

[Crazyhermitcrab]

How about a dirted tank capped with sand? I just did that to my 36G. I have java fern, anubius, hornwort (nitrate reducer), water wisteria, cambomba.

 

[fireman731]

Yeah see that looks good. I think I just need my swords to grow taller and my fern thicker and it'll really fill it up with some kind of tall floating plant. Just needs to fill in I guess

 

[fireman731]

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[SFAquariums1]

Yes you can do a thin layer of sand over the substrate! Dirted is always better though but in my experience you have to heavily plant the tank wen you dirt it so you don't have to many excess nutrients in the water.


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