# Soil and sand



## Majsa (17 Jun 2020)

I am planning to tear down my old shrimp tank and set up a 50cm/45L tank for pygmy cories. I want to use sand, but also plant the background with the crypts from the shrimp tank. I was thinking of growth substrate under the sand but have some Tropica Soil Powder left from a previous setup, would it make sense to add that under plastic canvas or in bags and then sand on top? I want the tank to be as easy as possible, so not thinking of separate substrate areas. Or is say 2 cm of sand just as good for crypts? They now grow on rather thick layer of gravel with water column dosing.


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## dw1305 (17 Jun 2020)

Hi all,





Majsa said:


> I am planning to tear down my old shrimp tank and set up a 50cm/45L tank for pygmy cories. I want to use sand, but also plant the background with the crypts from the shrimp tank. I was thinking of growth substrate under the sand but have some Tropica Soil Powder left from a previous setup, would it make sense to add that under plastic canvas or in bags and then sand on top? I want the tank to be as easy as possible, so not thinking of separate substrate areas. Or is say 2 cm of sand just as good for crypts? They now grow on rather thick layer of gravel with water column dosing.


You can grow _Cryptocoryne s_pp. In two inches of sand.

_Corydoras pygmaeus _doesn’t dig so you can probably just cap the powder.

Cheers Darrel


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## Majsa (18 Jun 2020)

Thanks Darrel!



dw1305 said:


> You can grow _Cryptocoryne s_pp. In two inches of sand.
> 
> _Corydoras pygmaeus _doesn’t dig so you can probably just cap the powder.



Good to know I need the depth. I didn't know pygmies don't dig, haven't had any corydoras species before. Does that mean the sand does not need to be particularly fine, as long as it's not too sharp? I was thinking of Dupla river sand which is 04,-06 mm, or 05,-1,4 mm, depending on where you read it...The Tropica Soil Powder has a grain size of 1-2 mm, so I guess they'd mix eventually? Choices...I could also do something with the old gravel, only it's rather sharp.


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## Majsa (18 Jun 2020)

I just saw this thread on the topic, interesting: Soil coming up through sand?


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