# substrate?



## hyphen (Apr 4, 2004)

i was told by the lfs guy that plants wouldn't grow in sand substrate...is this true? he said that the roots wouldn't have room to sprout. i wanted to plant my 30g sand and maybe some in the gravel tank. is this true?


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## Niche (Mar 9, 2004)

some say yes, some say no. ckeck out stugges pics.. his are planted in all sand.


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## sprinter78 (Nov 24, 2003)

Ive seen plants grow with a sand substrate. I have a gravel substrate and my plants are doing wonderfully...

But lots of people use laterite and flourite underneath their gravel to help plant growth.

But to answer your question, some plants will be able to grow in sandy substrates.


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## NavinWithPs (Apr 3, 2003)

for you, i would put sand on the bottom and add a layer of gravel on top of it. if you have extra cash, mix some laterite into the gravel.


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## hyphen (Apr 4, 2004)

NavinWithPs said:


> for you, i would put sand on the bottom and add a layer of gravel on top of it. if you have extra cash, mix some laterite into the gravel.


 that's what i was told to do as well. seems like a little too much work for a tank with inactive fish. i may just add some floating plants :/


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## smithgrind_who (Mar 26, 2004)

hyphen said:


> NavinWithPs said:
> 
> 
> > for you, i would put sand on the bottom and add a layer of gravel on top of it. if you have extra cash, mix some laterite into the gravel.
> ...


I was reading through another tread, and one member uses some type of netting to rap the roots in fluorite. The netting material was able to hold the fluorite but allow the roots to grow and break free. I think this method would work good for a sand substrate.


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## hyphen (Apr 4, 2004)

thanks for the input. i may just buy a few cheap plants to be my test bunnies.


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## imachode (Jun 3, 2003)

my p's keep knocking my plants out of the sand. kind of irritating actually.


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## ViBE (Jul 22, 2003)

My plants are doing soo well in the sand. When I first got them, the plants started dying, but then after awhile, they started living (Who knows). The only thing I hate about sand, is that you can see every little pieces of piranha poop and they bunch up together. I have to AT LEAST syphon it out once every 3 days, or else it gets ugly.


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## Husky_Jim (May 26, 2003)

The only disadvantage of sand is that it stops the needed water circulation on the roots so a plant may need more nutrients and also it might block the needed heat and may cause the plant die by cold in the roots.
I have in the past great results with sand and plants!

Keep us updated how yours are doing!


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## kman1215 (Jun 4, 2004)

I have several large bundles of wisteria and a couple of anubias nana planted in an 1.5" of sand; and since I've upgraded my lighting, they've flourished. Although, even with less potent light, the plants did well. So from my experience, I'd say it's a go.


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