Substrate question...new to planted tanks

[Sara]

I've been doing a lot of research lately, and am planning on starting up my first planted tank. It will be a 29 gallon housing blue rams, panda cories and some (yet to be determined) tetras. The hood that I am getting will be 40W. I know that this will limit me to very low light plants, but this is fine by me...

My question is about substrate. Ideally, I would have liked my substrate to be tahitian moon sand (possibly with a layer of something underneath), but I'm not sure if this would be the best choice. Regardless, I'd like the substrate to be black, and I am concerned about sharp edges for my cories.

Would it work if I put a layer of a plant substrate with tahitian moon sand on top?...I've heard of people using both peat and Eco-complete as a bottom layer. Or would I be better off by just using a specialty plant substrate with no sand?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! TIA

 

[Billsgate]

If you can find plant substrate which is as fine as your sand, you could easily put it underneath a layer of moon sand.

With 40Watts over a 29 gallon you would have 1.5W/gallon. You could actually make a very nice planted tank with that. Just get low light plants and they will thrive, you could also go for medium light plants, but they would probably have stunted growth.

Some good low light plants: Java ferns, Java moss, Amazon sword (Not sure if it's really low light, but mine does fine under 1W/gallon) and there are probably more but this is just what i know.

HTH

 

[malkore]

I'm using tahitian sand in my 20gallon krib tank, which is actually 3wpg. In lower light tanks, substrate can be anything. In high light tanks is where you see better results with plant substrates...but using sand and root tabs can be every bit as effective.

The only plant substrate that's black is Eco complete. You could mix it, or layer it...but when layering keep in mind it WILL MIX eventually. You might just wanna go with 100% sand.

 

[Sara]

Thanks Billsgate and malkore...tahitian moon sand it is! Now that that's settled, can anyone recommend a good brand of root tabs (or a few, considering that I'm in Canada and selection may be limited)?

Thanks again!

 

[aquazen]

If you are on a tight budget, look into bigalsonline.com

They have excellent prices and shipping is not too expensive. The prices may even be cheaper than what you find at your LFS, even with the shipping included.

 

[medge00]

I use jobes root tabs for ferns, found at most general hardware/garden retailers. pretty good price ($1.50 for abour 20) and i've had good results. Good alternative only if you don't stir up your substrate often.

 

[gheitman]

I recommend Flourish Tabs from Seachem. They last for more than 3 months in my experience.

 

[malkore]

my flourish tabs never lasted beyond 2 months.
I now roll my own root tabs. So much cheaper.