# Planted Tank: Sand or Gravel Cap?



## sparrow317 (Jun 16, 2014)

So I posted this on another thread and a user helped me out and pointed me in the right post direction.

Here is my question:

I'm about to head back to school soon and finally get my tank started up. 

My plan is to have a natural planted tank with a soil substrate for the best growth and survival of my plants. 

What I am interested in asking is, is a sand or gravel cap better? 

If sand: what type/brand of sand? Where did you purchase it?

If gravel: what type of grain size? 

How much of each layer should I be using (inch depth of soil vs. cap)? And, is either better with a certain type of snail or shrimp (I plan on trying both as companions to my fish)

Thank you! I know it's a lot of questions.


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## tankman12 (Nov 13, 2012)

I would do sand, petco black sand would be fine. I find flourite sand WAY to compact and will not allow any flow. The plants wont really love that. 

For the deepness, it depends on the tank size. In my 29 i have 4-5inches of substrate, but there is no way you could put that much in a like 5 gallon.

Malaysian trumpets would actually pretty good in this tank. Put also get some assassin snails. Or the trumpets will get out of control.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## MameJenny (Jun 11, 2012)

I like sand substrate. It looks nice, and it's a LOT easier to plant cuttings when you have sand. If you get sand from anywhere besides a pet store, though, make sure you rinse it like crazy first (that is, unless you want a mud puddle tank).


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## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

If you get sand, period, rinse it like crazy before putting it in. Doesn't matter where it came from. Always easier to rinse.

Heck, if you get gravel, rinse that too.

Most substrates have a bunch of dust or dirt or gunk in them that you won't want to try to water-change out of your tank, because you'll kill your muscles doing it.

tankman is fond of black substrate because he feels it makes the colors of the fish pop, whereas he often says white substrate washes the fish's colors out. This is a fair point, although I feel the need to point out that it won't actually hurt anything if you use white or pale sand.

I have a personal recommendation against white sand in a dirt-based tank, though.

It's not because of the color of the fish.

_It's because of the color of the dirt._

I have put white sand on top of dirt. It doesn't end well. The dirt WILL be disturbed and come up into the sand layer, and you'll see it constantly.

Get black sand. Get tan sand. Get salt-and-pepper sand. Get brown sand. Get purple sand. Get _gravel._ Doesn't matter. Just not white.

Do not use white sand in a dirted tank, unless you're okay with seeing dirt on top all the time. Another problem with that is that it's really hard to tell if it's algae or just dirt, and you'll always be seeing it.

The dirt tank I just set up uses organic potting soil with half as much FloraMax as a cap. That's working pretty well so far. I rinsed out the FloraMax really well before using it and didn't end up with a mud puddle. The big issue with FloraMax, though, is a) it's more expensive than sand, and b) if you're planning on cories or other bottom-dwellers, you can't use this. It's like bits of pumice. So nothing that needs a smooth top substrate.

However, lots of people say their plants root really well in FloraMax. (You do need a dirt layer underneath or root tabs; it doesn't work as advertised, so if you've got root feeders, just FloraMax will not cut the mustard.) If you aren't planning on bottom-dwellers, it'd be fine. You may be able to find smaller or cheaper bags than mine. I'd offer to sell you some of my extra, but I think with postage included (even in a flat rate box) you'd be better off buying it yourself.


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## tankman12 (Nov 13, 2012)

Myexplodingcat, the reason i said black is for too reasons. One is, you wont see debris one it. Too, it does make fish colors pop a lot more. 

When i had natural color gravel, and changed to white sand, there was many issues. My rummies colors where extremely washed out. My pearl gouramis where very skittish and would not even come out. Colors where washed out as well. Than with the cories. Dang, their colors where horrible. Than i switched to black sand, and the colors are great, no skittishness, they acted completely normal. If you use bright white sand with blackwater fish, most of the time they will be washed out. If you choose to do white sand, you should add some tannins so it isnt to bright. 

The reasoning behind what i am saying is this. Fish take up the color of their habitat. So bright white sand = washed out colors. Nice dark sand/gravel/tannins = deep dark colors. But on the other hand fish like, most livebeaers, rainbows, africans, puffers, and saltwater, like bright sand. Cuz that is what their natural habitat is like. But with VERY captive breed fish like bettas, may not even care. But his colors will probably be darker with a darker environment. 

If you do a gravel, i wouldnt do floramax. It isnt really the best. It is better than nothing, but i would use flourite. It is better IME. But if you do one of these, bottom feeders are way out of the question. 

Dirt itself is amazing, so you wont really need to buy expensive gravels.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Flint (Oct 22, 2013)

In the wild, fish don't have black sand and display beautiful colors. I know that our tanks are not the wild but rummynoses are among our naturally-occurring aquarium fish (even though ours are home-bred) and they live over white sand. Unless the sand is blindingly white, which then it could be an issue just due to the reflectiveness, you don't have to do anything to have white sand. You can get some pea gravel or play sand from home depot. $4 and change for 50lbs here and takes minimal rinsing anymore.


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## Tony2632 (Aug 30, 2013)

This is why I'm heading in the direction of Amazonian aquasoil. Do I need a cap for it? No I do not. Is it expensive? Yes it is. But I don't blame you going in the direction of organic soil with a cap on top. It's the cheap way, but both methods are effective. I'd go with black sand, like other few people said.


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## tankman12 (Nov 13, 2012)

Flint, i never said that they had black sand in the wild. I said that in the wild they have tannins in the water which makes the habitat darker. In an aquarium, many people want crystal clear water, which will allow light to pass threw MUCH easier. So to somewhat mimic their natural habitat (make it somewhat darker) you would use a dark substrate and a dark background (not as important).

The prime example is with serpae tetras. If you throw them in a bright tank (bright light and bright substrate) their colors will be horrible. If you have a dark substrate, their colors will be a lot better.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Flint (Oct 22, 2013)

I've kept serpaes on white sand... They looked amazing.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

It really comes down to preference.

Sand is good to use for a soil cap because generally it does a better job at keeping the soil down unlike a larger sized gravel. However sand can also lead to anaerobic soil if you lay down too much substrate, do not exceed 3 inches total substrate depth for any NPT, otherwise you can gas and kill your fish. 

I have mixed opinions myself on sand as a cap, I've used both gravel, sand, sand mixed with FloraMax all for caps and neither were really "better" than the other. I liked the gravel because it held down my plants better but the sand looked nice as it does seem smoother. I generally use dark substrate but for my newest tank I'll actually be using a golden sand probably mixed with a tiny bit of red FloraMax just for a little color pop and more natural feel to the tank--it won't be soil based though. But all the same, for the sake of color popping; dark substrate is great for light fight but light substrate is great for dark fish. I tend to keep a lot of Black Copper Bettas or Royal Blues and so they actually end up blending in with my Black petCo sand lol.

If you do want to go with gravel, try to get a size that is around 2-3 mm pellet sized to allow for oxygen flow but still keep the soil down.


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## sparrow317 (Jun 16, 2014)

tankman12 said:


> I would do sand, petco black sand would be fine. I find flourite sand WAY to compact and will not allow any flow. The plants wont really love that.
> 
> For the deepness, it depends on the tank size. In my 29 i have 4-5inches of substrate, but there is no way you could put that much in a like 5 gallon.
> 
> ...


So the assassin snails eat the trumpets? Or just the competition keeps the trumpet population in check?


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## sparrow317 (Jun 16, 2014)

myexplodingcat said:


> If you get sand, period, rinse it like crazy before putting it in. Doesn't matter where it came from. Always easier to rinse.
> 
> Heck, if you get gravel, rinse that too.
> 
> ...


Oh wow I had no clue! I am definitely rethinking the white sand. I'm going to go with a darker color as I do want my betta's colors to really pop.

Thank you for the detailed response. I'm learning so much!


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## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

sparrow317 said:


> So the assassin snails eat the trumpets? Or just the competition keeps the trumpet population in check?


As long as you can control how much food you put in your tank--and this depends quite a bit on what species you want and how good they are at actually finding and eating the food you give them--you won't need the assassin snails.

Malaysian Trumpet Snails will reproduce like mad if you give them extra food, whether that's fish food something like dying plant material. As long as you avoid doing that, you don't need to bother with assassins. I know some folks like using them anyway just to keep the population under control, but it's not necessary as long as your MTS don't go bonkers because someone dumped a bunch of fish food in or neglected to remove dead plant material off new plants before putting them in the tank.

Get assassins if you end up having a problem... otherwise don't bother. Getting them at the same time as your MTS will probably just kill all your MTS. It's like getting algae eaters before you actually have algae for them to eat.


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## tankman12 (Nov 13, 2012)

MTS will definitely get out of hand, especially in a dirted planted tank. They will get food from plants (dead plant material), which is a given in any planted tank. They will also munch on algae. They will also find stuff in the dirt to eat. So it is almost impossible for them to not get food. My brothers tank is planted and he has 1 badis badis. The snail are insane, maybe 500 or so. It is crazy. 

So to prevent the MTS from getting out of control to begin with. I would just get a couple assassins. They are colorful and will eat bloodworms as well as MTS and pest snails. 

Even if you dont have a snail problem, they are just cool to have.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Flint (Oct 22, 2013)

While they will feed from dead plant matter and other things around the tank, as previoiusly said, MTS will not get out of hand if you don't overfeed.


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