# substrate



## RBP7 (Oct 13, 2006)

i have play sand in my planted 220g i was just wondering if i should switch it out with something else. i have a 6'x2.5' surface to cover so it would be pretty pricy to buy substrate specificaly for planted tanks. and what are the benifits of the name brand plated tank substrate over play sand. i also like the sand because the fish sh!t sont go through the spaces down to the bottom. or would that be good for a planted tank?


----------



## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

Get some Soilmaster Select Charcoal (looks the best) from LESCO if you want cheap plant substrate...IMO the regular doesn't look that bad either, especially when the plants start coming in. Fish poo is good for your plants. Sand is usually too fine and compacts too much for a planted tank.


----------



## BlackSunshine (Mar 28, 2006)

Yeah sand not the greatest. tho I have some mellon swords that did great in some white sand in my planted 20. As Bio suggests Soil master select from Lesco is great. Another name it goes by (if you're not near a Lesco (like me) Is Turface pro league Grey by Profile. If you go to the3 Turface website and contact them they can tell you a local distributor. This gets you a 50lb bag of great substrate for around 14 bucks. much better then spending $100+ on "Aquatic Plant" substrates.


----------



## RBP7 (Oct 13, 2006)

like i said though my tank is like 6'x2.5'x3' so thats alot of 50 lbs bags to ship to northern alberta.


----------



## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

RBP7 said:


> like i said though my tank is like 6'x2.5'x3' so thats alot of 50 lbs bags to ship to northern alberta.


Not as many as you think...soilmaster is lightweight and totally dry. One 50lb bag will fill a 48x18 footprint to an average depth of around 4". By my calculations, you would have more than enough with just 3 bags (72x30 footprint). At $17 US a bag, even with shipping you shouldn't break the bank.


----------



## RBP7 (Oct 13, 2006)

thanks ill think about it. but i will go to my lfs and see what they have. i wanted to research the substrate before i eaven look for some.


----------

