Substrate?

[beginner on the loose]

I have heard over and over that fertilazation substrate is a must for a planted tank. I am starting a 20 gallon planted tank that I want to look prestine. Because I am mostly a "looks" type of guy, I want to have sand as the substrate. So my questions are...
1: Do I even need a fertilazation substrate? (see plants below)
2: Can I mix the sand and fertilier substrate?
3: What ratio can I mix for the best looks and results?
4: How much will mixing the substrates affect the life of the tank?

(Keep in mind... I will be keeping generally easy plants to maintain, such as Anubias, Amazon Swords, Vals, Java Moss, etc.)
Thank you in advanced for any help!

 

[Rivercats]

For the type of plants you want to keep you could do a sand substrate if desired. For the Swords and Crypts (if you use any) you will need to use root tabs since these are heavy root feeders. You are also still going to need to use something like Seachem's Comprehensive 1 or 2 times a week for the other plants.

If you want you can also use something like the fine grade black Eco-complete and mix it at a 50/50 ratio with black sand. The choice is up to you. The only advantage of using some commercial substrate is that is has a high CEC, cation exchange capacity, which means it can absorb nutrients from the detris and water and hold them for use by the plants.

 

[Zimmanski]

What's your budget? If those are the only plants you'll be keeping in your aquarium just use whatever aquarium safe sand you like and use some root tabs. With the easy plants you've selected that should be all you need other than liquid ferts. My 75 gallon planted tank only has caribsea Tahitian moon sand with some root tabs and a good liquid fertilizer regimen and the plants are great. Now if you want a planted substrate and like sand I would look at seachem flourite black sand, its what I'll be using when I upgrade to a larger tank whenever that is. Most stores don't stock it though, might have to order online.

 

[aqua_chem]

I have heard over and over that fertilazation substrate is a must for a planted tank.

Then you're listening to the wrong people. On the grand list of things that make or break a planted tank, I would probably put substrate choice near the bottom. The other factors make a much bigger impact on your success than substrate choice. Sand is a fine choice (many plants the world over are growing in sandy beds), especially if you use root tabs, which you should be using if you're not using a fertilizer substrate anyways, which is basically just aqua soil (and AS derivatives) or soil.