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My new tank, (Tank 9), should be arriving at the end of next week and I'm wondering about what I'm going to put in it. I am keen on the idea of a planted tank, but till now, haven't had much success with real plants and am wondering if this has to do with the substrate that I use.

The 100 gallon tank will be home for clown loaches, plecs, silver sharks and some other larger fish, such as angels that are going to outgrow my existing tanks.

All my tanks have gravel substrate now, and nothing to hold any nutrients for plants. This leads me to wonder if sand might not be a better option, although I am concerned that the inhabitants of the tank might start digging and cloud the water all the time.

I have read several threads referring to this subject, and there are views for both types of substrate, with lots of ideas as to how and what to use, but as yet, can't decide what to go for.

I would appreciate your input on this before I start setting it up. As yet, I haven't sorted out a filter system for the tank, but a sump is now out of the question, since I have no room for one anywhere, so internal filters will be the way forward. There's no hurry for this, other than it's going to look awfully empty for a while, and patience isn't one of my strong points. It's also going to be the center of attention, since this 8' tank is the one we will be looking at while sat on our sofa!

griffin

i'm all about some sand substrate. i prefer sand to gravel, i think it looks better, and it is significantly easier to clean. once it's settled in, it doesn't get stirred up too much (at least in my tanks).

can't really say anything about holding nutrients for plants though. i use regular inert sand for my tanks, but they are fully planted. i think most (although not all) plants get most of their nutrients via the water column?

if you go sand, you might also want to get some MTS to help eliminate aerobic bubbles. i've never personally had a problem with those, but i hear they can be pretty nasty.

hope that helped

King Dojo

I have sand in my tank and there are many loaches in it that could potentialy stir up the sand but it has never been a problem. Once the sand is sturred up it quickly settles to the bottom. My fish like it alot more then when I had gravel and it looks alot better. I also have external and internal filters and there has never been a problem with the filters getting clogged.

susitna-flower