# Substrates



## Lewissss (12 Dec 2021)

Hi everyone, I’m upgrading my tank and want to try a planted tank and I’m looking for a cheap black substrate, black diamond blasting sand would be perfect but they don’t seem to sell it over here.. also would I be able to cap flourite black sand with normal sand? Or should I just do full normal sand? I will be adding root tabs, thanks


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## Emmzz (13 Dec 2021)

A little disappointed myself you can't get the blasting sand here but you can get good value different coloured sands from B&Q You could buy eco complete Black it's a plant substrate supposed to be good haven't used it myself though, you wouldn't need to cap it either but I suppose you could if you wanted to, I use fluval substrate in my planted tank


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## Lewissss (13 Dec 2021)

Which ones would I look for that would be safe? Will eco be ok under sand? I don’t want the eco complete to rise above the sand, which fluval substrate do you use?


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## pat1cp (13 Dec 2021)

I'm not very experienced at planted aquariums, but I found eco complete to be a pain to plant into. It has a fine gravel texture to it.

Again, In my limited experience, the aquasoils make the planting job far easier. And there's not much difference in price as I recall.

As for preventing the substrate rising through the sand, you could use these
Amazon product


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## ScareCrow (13 Dec 2021)

For black "sand" (grain size less than 1mm) the only source I managed to find was All pond solutions 5kg bags. At £10 ago it seems pretty expensive (I remember when it was half that price and it wasn't that long ago) but looking round, larger grain sizes seem to be the same price but in bigger quantities. It's free postage and I ended up needing more when I upgrade my tank so that was a bonus. Also probably prevented the postman getting a huernia.
I've not looked into it much but I think that the APS  black sand above is just iron silicate same as blasting sand. It's certainly magnetic as I accidentally dropped a magnet on to it.

Under the sand I use a mix of leaf mould, cat litter and miracle gro slow release pellets all held in the fruit bags you can get from super markets. I think they're 50p for 2.


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## Lewissss (13 Dec 2021)

pat1cp said:


> Again, In my limited experience, the aquasoils make the planting job far easier. And there's not much difference in price as I recall.
> 
> As for preventing the substrate rising through the sand, you could use these
> Amazon product



Would the roots be able to get through them bags though? Do I need aqua soil or would root tabs suffice?


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## pat1cp (13 Dec 2021)

Lewissss said:


> Would the roots be able to get through them bags though? Do I need aqua soil or would root tabs suffice?


I've never used them, but MD Fish tanks does.


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## Lewissss (13 Dec 2021)

ScareCrow said:


> For black "sand" (grain size less than 1mm) the only source I managed to find was All pond solutions 5kg bags. At £10 ago it seems pretty expensive (I remember when it was half that price and it wasn't that long ago) but looking round, larger grain sizes seem to be the same price but in bigger quantities. It's free postage and I ended up needing more when I upgrade my tank so that was a bonus. Also probably prevented the postman getting a huernia.
> I've not looked into it much but I think that the APS  black sand above is just iron silicate same as blasting sand. It's certainly magnetic as I accidentally dropped a magnet on to it.
> 
> Under the sand I use a mix of leaf mould, cat litter and miracle gro slow release pellets all held in the fruit bags you can get from super markets. I think they're 50p for 2.


Unipac Coloured Black Sand 20kg - Aquarium Sand 
would this be ok for planting do you think? Do you think I need aqua soil underneath or do you think root tabs will be enough? I’m not looking to get overly difficult plants


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## ScareCrow (13 Dec 2021)

Lewissss said:


> Unipac Coloured Black Sand 20kg - Aquarium Sand
> would this be ok for planting do you think? Do you think I need aqua soil underneath or do you think root tabs will be enough? I’m not looking to get overly difficult plants


That black sand should be fine. Depends on what fish you want. Things that like to sift substrate won't be able to as it's too coarse.

I've not used aquasoil myself so can't comment on the product but if you add some sort of nutrient rich substrate, it's there should you need it. If you don't add it, you won't be doomed, you can still grow plants but you can't really add it after. As long as you dose the water column with ferts you should be fine but might be better to get an idea of the plants you want, then you can tailor the setup more. I started out my current tank thinking I'd only keep epiphytes but still put my leaf mould mix under the sand, just in case. Now I have loads of crypts, so I'm glad I added the leaf mould.


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## Lewissss (13 Dec 2021)

ScareCrow said:


> That black sand should be fine. Depends on what fish you want. Things that like to sift substrate won't be able to as it's too coarse.
> 
> I've not used aquasoil myself so can't comment on the product but if you add some sort of nutrient rich substrate, it's there should you need it. If you don't add it, you won't be doomed, you can still grow plants but you can't really add it after. As long as you dose the water column with ferts you should be fine but might be better to get an idea of the plants you want, then you can tailor the setup more. I started out my current tank thinking I'd only keep epiphytes but still put my leaf mould mix under the sand, just in case. Now I have loads of crypts, so I'm glad I added the leaf mould.


Yeah I know what you mean, maybe I should, how do you make your leaf mold mix? Do I mix it with soil? Just a bit worried about it going above my sand and making a mess


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## ScareCrow (13 Dec 2021)

Lewissss said:


> Yeah I know what you mean, maybe I should, how do you make your leaf mold mix? Do I mix it with soil? Just a bit worried about it going above my sand and making a mess


There's a good write-up the tutorial section about using soil substrate. As you say, there is a risk of it making a mess if you don't cap it well enough. Some just put sand/gravel over the top and hope for the best, which is ok until you or the inhabitants disturb the substrate. In the tutorial Tim covers the soil with green mesh. I did the same with the drainage layer in my crested gecko viv but eventually the green mesh made its way to the surface. So I prefer to put the soil in a mesh bag, that way it can't escape. 
The leaf mould I get from my local park. You want broadleaf (oak/beech etc if you're going to collect it yourself) I then sieve out anything larger than 5mm. Mix 50:50 with Tesco cat litter and add some miraclegro slow release pellets. One thing to note is the cat litter I use is quite old and Tesco have apparently changed the product. This is the most recent thread about using it as far as I know.


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## sparkyweasel (13 Dec 2021)

You can get blasting sand if you really want it, but it's very abrasive, that's what it's for. I wouldn't use it in a tank that I might want to stock with barbs, catfish, loaches or cichlids, and for me that's any tank. 
Sandblasting


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## ScareCrow (13 Dec 2021)

sparkyweasel said:


> You can get blasting sand if you really want it, but it's very abrasive, that's what it's for. I wouldn't use it in a tank that I might want to stock with barbs, catfish, loaches or cichlids, and for me that's any tank.
> Sandblasting


For me the grain size was too large although I believe you can get different grades of blasting sand. Also unless you can pick some up locally to avoid postage, I couldn't find it at a price that beat "proper" aquarium grade substrate (probably repackaged blasting sand in my opinion).


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## Lewissss (14 Dec 2021)

Thanks guys, will look into trying what you said with black sand over the top, otherwise I’ll just simply use root tabs


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