Need ideas for 125 gallon planted tank substrate

[Jonnyboy]

Hello everyone. Im a new member as of today. I'm trying to tackle my first planted aquarium. I've just purchased a 125 gallon tank and would like to have a high tech setup. Im in the process of piecing it together and am having trouble deciding on a substrate. My LFS use ADA new amazonia. while I like the idea of having a high quality soil such as this, im trying to find something similar but a little less costly. The price isnt so much a concern, its just that im active duty military and may be moved in 2 years or so. Is ADA soil worth the investment for only two years? Ive seen a lot about people using organic potting soil and making there own substrate mixture.

I guess I dont want to throw a bunch of money into soil if there is a DIY solution I could make that will be equally good. Any ideas? Sorry if I seem like a newbie (I am) its just that this is my first time setting up a planted tank. I've done loads of researching though.

 

[jetajockey]

Welcome to the forum. You can definitely have great results using a good soil mixture, it is just a lot more involved. Dirt has downsides to it, like it needs to be capped and shouldn't be messed with. But the cost savings are substantial especially on big tanks.

 

[Jonnyboy]

Welcome to the forum. You can definitely have great results using a good soil mixture, it is just a lot more involved. Dirt has downsides to it, like it needs to be capped and shouldn't be messed with. But the cost savings are substantial especially on big tanks.

Thank you for your reply jetajockey. That was one concern of mine, considering this is my first planted tank I can see myself moving stuff around until I like the way I have it set up. Does this cause a lot of problems? I think I've read that with dirt it will float and make a huge mess if you move things around.
I just dont want to set it all up that way and then decide I dont like the looks and end up messing it all up.