using SW sand

[Jarred Darque]

I am considering changing my 10 gallon back to a FW tank, for either GBRs or DPs, which means planted as well. quistion though is if there are sufficient plants I could use using sand substrate from when the tank was saltwater, instead of a normal planted tank substratew which is what I used last time the tank was planted

the tank will have about 40-50 watts of 10k lighting over it in the form of the screw in fluorescant bulbs. which worked last time I did a planted tank with it

 

[Purrbox]

That depends on whether or not the sand you were using was inert or had buffering properties. If it's inert then you'll want to give it a good rinsing to get rid of any residual salts (not good for plants) before using. Also you'll want to make sure that it isn't too fine or it will tend to compact and sufficate the plant roots. This can be counteracted to a certain degree through manual stirring or the use of MTS, but some sand is just too fine.

An inexpensive alternative would be to pick up some pool filter sand from a local pool supply store. It works well in planted aquariums.

 

[travis simonson]

If your sand is the crushed coral/aragonite/oolite type of sand commonly used in SW tanks it will not work well for most plants. The alkaline composition of the substrate is bad for most common plants, although I think you might get away with growing some Anubias, Vallisneria, and Java fern plants and I know that hornwort doesn't care at all if it's in aragonite or any other type of substrate.

 

[Jarred Darque]

ok, I am not plannin on doin a serious planted tank, just something to make it halfway interesting wether I dec ide to breed two GBRs or keep 3 puffers (which need stuff tobreak line of sight)