How much do I need

I was wondering how much substrate I need for my 29 gallon, and since im very new to it, how do it do it ?, do I put the beneficial substrate on the bottom and gravel on top of it, or all beneficial ?

I looked up good substrate and what came up was fluval substrate, it cost around $20 for 8.8 is that enough ?

 

Not near enough, usually you’ll need about 2 lbs per gallon, you could get away with a little less than that though. If you’re trying to plant it 2lbs/gallon would be pretty much perfect depth. The type of substrate depends on what you want to do with the tank. Usually those fancy beneficial substrates aren’t necessary. You could instead save quite a bit of money by buying cheap sand or gravel and just putting in root tabs.

 

I just used 27# for my 29 gallon, 15# gravel and 12# of another type of clay gravel. It’s about 2” deep maybe a little less in places

 

Not near enough, usually you’ll need about 2 lbs per gallon, you could get away with a little less than that though. If you’re trying to plant it 2lbs/gallon would be pretty much perfect depth. The type of substrate depends on what you want to do with the tank. Usually those fancy beneficial substrates aren’t necessary. You could instead save quite a bit of money by buying cheap sand or gravel and just putting in root tabs.

I just want a simple tank with plants that get big like a bush (I think java fern grows big like that) and then some taller plants, but mainly just bigger plants. I want a substrate that is good for cory catfish though, I dont know if they need specific substrate.

 

I just want a simple tank with plants that get big like a bush (I think java fern grows big like that) and then some taller plants, but mainly just bigger plants. I want a substrate that is good for cory catfish though, I dont know if they need specific substrate.

Corys tend to prefer sand because they have small barbels to hunt for food that can get damaged on rough edges of gravel. Java fern needs to be attached to rock, so if you just stuck with Java ferns you would only need to buy a liquid fertilizer for the water column. Also if you just bought Java ferns and anubias (another easy water column feeder), since they both don’t have to be planted (they need to be attached to wood or rock), you could get by with about half the amount of substrate that you’d need if you were planting stuff.

 

I typically do 1lb per gallon, but I suggest you do more.

 

Corys tend to prefer sand because they have small barbels to hunt for food that can get damaged on rough edges of gravel. Java fern needs to be attached to rock, so if you just stuck with Java ferns you would only need to buy a liquid fertilizer for the water column. Also if you just bought Java ferns and anubias (another easy water column feeder), since they both don’t have to be planted (they need to be attached to wood or rock), you could get by with about half the amount of substrate that you’d need if you were planting stuff.

Ok thanks for all the help, I have rocka and driftwoood, and I looked up the Bacopa I have is gonna be fine so ill look for sands