Plants in gravel possible

[SuperFly426]

Do I have to use sand/dirt or can I get away with my established gravel setup? Tank is a 10 gallon with two 10w 6500k bulbs.

Thanks!

 

[calfishguy]

Your gravel should be fine. What type of plants are you planting???

 

[phishfriend]

You can use your gravel. For heavy root feeders you will want to use root tabs.

 

[phin]

for years all I had was gravel. I had a number of crypts, they all grew in the gravel just fine. I didn't have anything else rooted in gravel though.

 

[SuperFly426]

Your gravel should be fine. What type of plants are you planting???

Not sure... have any suggestions? Something I could find at a local pet store?

 

[owen0992]

I've only ever had an onion plant in when I had gravel. This is just a personal preference but I LOVE apongeton plants and my dwarf lily. There are some shorter apongetons if you don't like the longer ones, I have both. Both the dwarf lily and apongetons grow really well in my 10 gallon. A few root tabs will get your plants making a new leaf every few days.

 

[Andrewz00]

Ive never planted in anything but gravel.... as a pp pointed out, some heavy root feeders may require root tabs.

 

[Angel_fish]

Gravel is ideal for most plants. Sand and dirt (over time) gets hard like clay. Also builds up toxins.

 

[phin]

I've never heard of sand getting hard over time. How long does this take?

 

[Angel_fish]

I've never heard of sand getting hard over time. How long does this take?

Depends on the sand. Usually if its very fine about a year.

 

[calfishguy]

Depends on the sand. Usually if its very fine about a year.

It's strange that after all the reading I have done this is the first time I hear if this.

 

[Angel_fish]

It's strange that after all the reading I have done this is the first time I hear if this.

Google it now that you know what to google.

 

[calfishguy]

Google it now that you know what to google.

I can only find people saying that it gets hard in reef tanks.

 

[phin]

I've had playsand, livesand, livesand-playsand mix, two of them set up for more than a year and I've never seen anything like that happen.

 

[MarMan]

I have used sand for two years and it has the same consistancy of when I bought it from a pool supply shop. I Have Java ferns and elodea they do fine in sand.

 

[aqua_chem]

This is the first time I'm hearing of this too. Someone should tell the Amazon River that its using the wrong substrate.

 

[phishfriend]

This is the first time I'm hearing of this too. Someone should tell the Amazon River that its using the wrong substrate.

+10 ROFLOL!!!! That was a really good one aqua!!!

 

[Fresh2o]

I read about this but its the first time hearing about it on this forum. It was mentioned in a book called "The Optimum Aquarium" by Kasper Horst and Horst Kipper in 1986.

 

[aqua_chem]

What they're describing is opposite effect, in that they ran into this issue with larger gravel rather than with smaller gravel or sand. One of the more resent books on the hobby, Ecology of the Planted Aquarium (2003) by Diana Walstad, advocates a dirt and sand substrate.

 

[jetajockey]

Fine sand does have the potential for compaction. I've had some playsand compact in a tank after a year or so. Normally this isn't an issue in tanks though because the substrate isn't deep. I've run into some sand in the wild (aquatic plant collecting) that I couldn't dig in without metal tools. I'm sure there were substances involved that acted like binders(clay for example). I've never seen or heard of this happening in aquaria using a pure silica sand substrate, though. A good example of sand in action is the beaches here on the gulf coast. Even when compacted it doesn't change it's base structure.