hop2jr

Going to pick-up a used but new to me 75gal tank, stand everything I'm cyced. I going it to be planted and want to do the bottom right but I also want it to be sand. My ? is what would be good to use on the very bottom that won't make the sand look bad? I have a 29gal planted and want the rooted plants to be more stable in this tank. Any thoughts?

joy613

If you are going to use sand as a substrate you need to remember it will sift through any gravel you might use and end up on the bottom of your tank.

l33tak

hey, wud up mang!! first of all I found a local pool store where i'm buying my pool filter sand from tommorow and i once again thank you for your advice... I'm really excited about your 75g since i once upon had a 55g n let it go for 40 bones!!! i know, shoot me, but I've heard Gamer Wisteria and hygrophilia do well with sand as the substrate, keep me updated!!! also ill be starting a thread after im done typing this on my 30g from gravel to sand!.. cant wait!! laterrrr sorry for my grammar, just multi tasking it!!! hahah peace!!

hop2jr

I was thinking of mixing white pool filter sand, Black gravel, and flourite. more sand than gravel and more gravel than flourite. what do you guys think?

sirdarksol

I have used a 50/50 mix of sand and fluorite and it has worked pretty well.

For planted tanks, however, I would strongly suggest EcoComplete. The stuff is amazing. It's not quite sand, more like potting soil, but it's ready to go right out of the bag (fluorite, on the other hand, is the biggest pain in the world to rinse, and even after you rinse it, it will color your tank water for an hour or more.) It's also supposed to be good for the cycle.

hop2jr

So you don't have to rinse EcoComplete and is that what is good for cycling the tank or fluorite?

sirdarksol

Sorry. You'd think that, as a writer with recent training in editing, I could make a simple paragraph understandable. I've fixed it. It's the EcoComplete that's supposed to be good for the cycle. It is supposed to contain bacteria that helps break fish waste down into more easily used fertilizer for the plants.

And yes, EcoComplete can go into the tank with precisely zero rinsing. It comes packed in water, and you just dump the whole bag in the bottom of the tank and then add water. My water was clear the entire time that I filled the tank. I've never had that happen with any other new substrate.

If you get EcoComplete, I would suggest ordering it from Drs Foster and Smith. They have a flat rate of $10 shipping up to a certain amount, and their EcoComplete is $10 cheaper than at most fish stores (sometimes even more). If you order two bags, you're saving $10, and it gets delivered to your door.

hop2jr

how many pounds would I need for a 75gal tank?

sirdarksol

Not entirely sure. I can tell you this, though. I have a 90g tank. Two thirds of the bottom has EcoComplete. The other third has a stone "river" running through it. I used two bags of EcoComplete for this.
I would think that, if you got some aquarium safe rock or driftwood, or got a few other large ornaments, put them on the bottom of the tank, then put two bags of EcoComplete in, you'd have a deep enough bed for most plants. If you like natural setups, driftwood looks really cool when it's partially buried in the substrate, especially if you wedge something under it so it slowly rises out at an angle.