Micro Gravel V Black Sand

HI newbie here , about to set up two tanks one for a male Betta & the other as a community tank .
Was thinking of using black sand but a friend has suggested black micro gravel any opinions on either to help in the decision? Will be using plants . Thanks

 

If your friend is talking about fluorite microblack gravel I would use the fluorite, it has more iron that is beneficial for root feeders. Otherwise if you aren’t getting special substrate both will work fine.

 

If your friend is talking about fluorite microblack gravel I would use the fluorite, it has more iron that is beneficial for root feeders. Otherwise if you aren’t getting special substrate both will work fine.

Ok , thanks

 

Do you plan on having plants? Ones that get planted vs tying?

 

Yes, plan to get live plants and have read up on Jacob’s recommendation, though pricey maybe a good investment with live planting .

 

Yes, plan to get live plants and have read up on Jacob’s recommendation, though pricey maybe a good investment with live planting .

If you're going to have plants, using a substrate for plants is far superior to using inert substate and root tabs.

But because it's so pricey, I started using soil capped with inert sand/gravel.

You could try mixing the two (black sand and fluorite) if the other is that much less expensive. Maybe a bottom layer of fluorite?

 

If you're going to have plants, using a substrate for plants is far superior to using inert substate and root tabs.

But because it's so pricey, I started using soil capped with inert sand/gravel.

You could try mixing the two (black sand and fluorite) if the other is that much less expensive. Maybe a bottom layer of fluorite?

Thanks have just found this post , decided to go with the fluorite though haven’t set up yet as waiting for a new filter to arrive ( as bought 2 x preowned tanks ) and went new on filters . Had just recently read that sand at the bottom and then fluorite on top would be good starter for the roots .