# Volume of substrate required?



## Wisey (20 Mar 2015)

Hi All,

I'm trying to decide how much substrate to purchase. My aquarium is a TMC Signature 60x45x45. My layout is going to be visible from two sides, the front and the left, so my plan was to have a sand area at the front and also up the left hand side, there will be a few rocks, but nothing huge, ADA Amazonia will then form a gradual slope from the sand up to the back right corner, again with a few rocks in there, nothing massive, just some hardscape to add interest and borders between plants.

I sent The Green Machine an e-mail asking for advice on substrate, gave them the info above and just got back a generic answer telling me that I should purchase 9 litres of substrate for every 60 litres of aquarium volume and more if I want to bank it up steeply (I had already told them I did not want to bank it up steeply). Now this seems like a crock of s**t to me, aquarium volume takes in to account the height of the aquarium. As far as I am concerned, if I bought the TMC Signature 60x45x30 which is less volume, then I would need the same amount of substrate for the same layout as my 60x45x45. Their 9 litres per 60 litres of volume does not take in to account the fact that an aquarium could be taller but the substrate height is the same.

So, forgetting the height, with a base area of 60x45, taking in to account that around 15% to 20% of that base area will be rocks and sand, how much ADA Amazonia do I need? 18 litres just seems like way more than I would want to put in there. I just got a feeling that TGM were giving me a cut and paste generic answer which tells me I need 2 big bags instead of 1 big bag or 1 big bag and a small bag.


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## Andy Thurston (20 Mar 2015)

just divide the tank volume by its height then multiply by the depth of substrate that you want easy


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## Jose (20 Mar 2015)

If 60x45 is your base in centimetres,the youll need;
(60x45xheight of substrate)÷1000= litres you need.
So say you want to have a 4 cm thick substrate, then
(60x45x4)÷1000=10,8 litres of substrate.

If 20% is gonna be rocks the just multiply the litres you need by 0.8. 
Ill let you do the maths for your example.

Hope it helps some.


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## alto (21 Mar 2015)

Do some depth measurements on your imagined substrate - mine ranges from 5cm to 10cm deep so I'd definitely use closer to 2 bags than one ... have you decided on powder or regular or a mix of both?


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## Wisey (21 Mar 2015)

Thanks for the input everyone. I'm not planning on having any small carpeting plants so was intending to avoid the more expensive powder and stick with the regular. I'm fairly sure using your calculations and considering the area that will be covered by sand I could probably get away with a 9 litre and a 3 litre, but considering I am only saving £15.45, maybe I should stop being tight and just buy the two 9 litre bags. With the cost of posting this weight, I guess its better to make sure I have everything I need in the one delivery rather than risk having to place a second order if I was short.


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## Jose (21 Mar 2015)

Good thinking wisey


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## ianh (21 Mar 2015)

Just underestimated with a new setup. Fortunately my local supplier is quite competitive, matching online prices and retaining the price when ordering the balance required. When carriage costs have to be considered, I feel it is best to be slightly conservative with estimations.


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## Jose (21 Mar 2015)

Or you can always add some black sand at the bottom if its not enough I guess.


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