Is the Substrate Deep Enough for Plants?

[Megaanemp]

Hello,

I am setting up a new tank and am only just realizing that the intake is quite low to the sand. Right now the sand is just over 1” deep, do you think this will be deep enough for some root plants? If not I’m wondering if I should silicon off part of the intake to buy more room but don’t want to damage the pumps motor.
I could also stuff some filter floss behind the openings to hopefully grab any sand before it gets to the pump. What do you think?

 

[GlennO]

What sort of intake? If it has a tube like a HOB or canister I just cut a bit off so that the strainer is further above the substrate.

 

[Megaanemp]

What sort of intake? If it has a tube like a HOB or canister I just cut a bit off so that the strainer is further above the substrate.

Sorry I meant to attach photos! It’s a Fluval flex 32 gal, so the intake is fixed in place.

 

[Orion0220]

Personally, I watched Cory in multiple videos, preach a pre-filter sponge (sold on his website) and it was one of the best decisions I ever made. Maximizes surface area for beneficial bacteria, keeps sand out of the filter, makes filter maintenance needed less frequently, catches food for the fish to get, that would otherwise end up on your filter media, and did I mention it stops sand from getting into your filter

 

[GlennO]

Oh right. Tricky. Perhaps you could create a barrier using rocks/wood or something around a small area near the intake where’s there would be just 1 inch of substrate and keep that area free of plants or just use small shallow rooted plants. Make the barrier high enough so that you could have deeper substrate throughout the rest of the tank.

 

[Orion0220]

Oh right. Tricky. Perhaps you could create a barrier using rocks/wood or something around a small area near the intake where’s there would be just 1 inch of substrate and keep that area free of plants or just use small shallow rooted plants. Make the barrier high enough so that you could have deeper substrate throughout the rest of the tank.

And the filter floss you mentioned would probably be your best bet, basically the same thing as a pre-filter, filter floss could get clogged easy. You could always just put a piece of sponge in front of it, enough plants and you wont be able to see it.

 

[Candace]

You could try glasses or pots. I have some cory's that were digging up everything I planted in my sand so I looked around and found these 3" x 4" glass candle holders at Dollar Tree. I plan to put a different kind of substrate in them but this may be a possible solution. Just waiting on my substrate and plants to come in the mail.

 

[John58ford]

I would think for sand 1" is a bit on the thin side. My best growth is in the 3-5" deep spots. You could start with 1" deep, let it season and build up some mulm (nature's fertilizer) for a couple months, dump a cap on it, repeat every time it looks dark for a year and you'll have quite the enriched substrate a few inches deep.

**Now for the actual answer: get a Tupperware bowl or other food bowl/plastic cup you know how to cut, next cut it to fit up against that inlet, make it 3-5 inches tall. Then you will have a good sand dam you can build up against. Put a couple river rocks in the half cup and you'll be good to go and it won't float away. Ideally you would glue it but if you can't dry the tank out for a few days the sand should hold it on there.

If you can't invision what I'm describing, google search "crawl space entry well". You are making a mini one of those.

 

[Megaanemp]

Oh right. Tricky. Perhaps you could create a barrier using rocks/wood or something around a small area near the intake where’s there would be just 1 inch of substrate and keep that area free of plants or just use small shallow rooted plants. Make the barrier high enough so that you could have deeper substrate throughout the rest of the tank.

Great idea! I may just do that in combination with the filter floss for a safety net.

You could try glasses or pots. I have some cory's that were digging up everything I planted in my sand so I looked around and found these 3" x 4" glass candle holders at Dollar Tree. I plan to put a different kind of substrate in them but this may be a possible solution. Just waiting on my substrate and plants to come in the mail.

View attachment 775872

That’s a cool idea! Thanks for the reply.

I would think for sand 1" is a bit on the thin side. My best growth is in the 3-5" deep spots. You could start with 1" deep, let it season and build up some mulm (nature's fertilizer) for a couple months, dump a cap on it, repeat every time it looks dark for a year and you'll have quite the enriched substrate a few inches deep.

**Now for the actual answer: get a Tupperware bowl or other food bowl/plastic cup you know how to cut, next cut it to fit up against that inlet, make it 3-5 inches tall. Then you will have a good sand dam you can build up against. Put a couple river rocks in the half cup and you'll be good to go and it won't float away. Ideally you would glue it but if you can't dry the tank out for a few days the sand should hold it on there.

If you can't invision what I'm describing, google search "crawl space entry well". You are making a mini one of those.

I see what you mean, great idea! thanks for the reply