New Freshwater tank setup

[james3434]

Hey everyone,

Just diving into this whole freshwater aquarium thing, so bear with me. I've had a marine tank before, so I'm not totally clueless, just new to the freshwater scene

I'm thinking of setting up a guppy tank, starting with just 5 fish after the tank cycles. I've picked out a 25L tank (about 6.5 gallons) for this.

I also have a betta tank with a bunch of live plants (with soil), and everything's going great there—my betta is super happy. So, I thought, why not do the same thing here?

But here's where I hit a roadblock. soil or sand?

I've read loads of articles and watched videos, but I'm still on the fence.

Honestly, I'm not a big fan of black soils, even though I get why people use them. I'm more into the beach vibe that sand gives off. Plus, I feel it would really make my aquascaping and live plants pop.

Still, I want to hear from you guys before I decide. For the long haul, which one's better? If I go with sand, I'm thinking of getting plants that can soak up nutrients through their leaves (epiphytic plants, right?) and place them around driftwood and rocks.

What do you guys think? And if you have any soil-loving plants to recommend, let me know. I don't want to miss out just because I chose sand over soil.

I'm not worried about the cleaning part—I've got that covered.

Thanks a bunch!

 

[Aiken Drum]

Really depends on what type of plants you are planning on getting. If they are high demand, nutrient hungry plants, then they would benefit from soil, but would also need injected CO2 and specialist lighting to meet their needs. No benefit from meeting their nutrient demands if there is insufficient CO2 and light for the plant to be able utilise those nutrients. These types of plants are usually terrestrial plants sold as aquatic plants and need the extra nutrients, light and CO2 to thrive.

If they are typical, commonly kept, low demand aquarium plants, then sand or gravel is fine. But you might want to supplement the substrate with root tabs or have a base layer of soil and cap it with the sand.

 

[james3434]

Really depends on what type of plants you are planning on getting. If they are high demand, nutrient hungry plants, then they would benefit from soil, but would also need injected CO2 and specialist lighting to meet their needs. No benefit from meeting their nutrient demands if there is insufficient CO2 and light for the plant to be able utilise those nutrients. These types of plants are usually terrestrial plants sold as aquatic plants and need the extra nutrients, light and CO2 to thrive.

If they are typical, commonly kept, low demand aquarium plants, then sand or gravel is fine. But you might want to supplement the substrate with root tabs or have a base layer of soil and cap it with the sand.

Thank you for your suggestions. I'm certainly not aiming for high-maintenance plants, as this is my first attempt at aquascaping. Instead, I'm focusing on plants that require less care. I've also come across supplements like this: https://www.coralvue.com/dymax-flora-plus


Do you think using sand as a substrate and adding these types of liquid fertilizers would work well?

 

[Aiken Drum]

Really depends on the set up. Aquarium plants usually do better with an all in one fertiliser like the one in your link. That one doesnt contain any nitrogen or phosphate, both of which is normally provided by fish waste, but if you are lightly stocked or the tank is heavily planted then you might need a fertiliser that provides these 2 essential nutrients. I would expect 5 fish in a 6g tank would provide plenty of nitrogen and phosphate though.

 

[james3434]

Really depends on the set up. Aquarium plants usually do better with an all in one fertiliser like the one in your link. That one doesnt contain any nitrogen or phosphate, both of which is normally provided by fish waste, but if you are lightly stocked or the tank is heavily planted then you might need a fertiliser that provides these 2 essential nutrients. I would expect 5 fish in a 6g tank would provide plenty of nitrogen and phosphate though.

Thanks so much. I will explore other fertilisers as well

 

[Big Ron]

Have heard a lot about " Easy Green all in one fertilizer" I am new to the hobby also and will be trying it in the near future, American Co-Op sells it. Good luck