Best plants for sand?

[HopefulHobbiest]

what are the best plants to use with sand substrate? i changed over from gravel about a month ago and i would venture to say my plants grew better in gravel... but i'm curious what plants thrive in sand if any??

 

[meegosh]

Everything can grow in sand, almost. All your typical stems, swords, crypts, ferns can grow just fine in sand. You may need to stuff some root tabs in the sand but you should be fine.

What plants do you have? How many Watts of light and how big of a tank?

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

Watts I'm not sure about... Tank is a 55g and plants I have 6, amazon sword, el niño java fern, 2 other types of ferns that I can't currently remember... Come to think of it I can't really remember the last two either... What a bummer. I do however know that they are all fully aquatic

 

[meegosh]

It should say how many Watts on the bulb somewhere. Don't check while it's hot though.

I'd look into some root tabs for the swords, I've used API's brand with success.

Are the pants showing deficiencies (yellowing, holes, etc) or just not growing?

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

I'll see if petsmart or petco carries root tabs(they should) and yes some are showing holes

 

[Aqueonevolve4]

Petco does! Api brand

 

[Aqueonevolve4]

They work very well btw! Here i have sand and these are my plants with the root tabs!!

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

Wow that's a pretty nice tank, hopefully I'll have the same success that you did

 

[Aqueonevolve4]

Thanks! Post some pics later on!

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

Will do for sure

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

Additional question about the root tabs... Where exactly are you suppose to put them? Near the plant or under it?

 

[Loddy Dod]

Near the plant. Put one about every 3 in and cover the area you need them.

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

Sounds good to me... I just hope my cory's don't dig them up... They love to dig in the sand lol

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

Hopefully the last question lol... Should I go with the API tabs that were suggested earlier or Seachem Flourish Tabs??

 

[Loddy Dod]

I know the guy earlier said API worked well, but I havent heard good things about them. And I have heard better things about the flourish ones. But I do think API are cheaper. So your choice.

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

They body cost the same surprisingly... So I guess it's a toss up... I have used a lot of API products before so I'll give that a shot... If nothing else I could always just switch.

Just wanted to see if anyone else had some experience with one or both products

 

[meegosh]

I've only used API... you could compare the levels of nutrients in both if you really wanted to I suppose. The swords will bounce back quickly with the addition of the tabs.

 

[greenwater]

I whiched from API tabs to Seachem. The only thing I noticed is Seachem dissolves alot slower and weighs more. Plants did well with either. (or maybe some of the API tabs are still in the sand?)

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

Haha well I put some of the API tabs in my tank so I guess we'll see what happens