# Soil, and substrate for soil aquarium...



## Ryan Young (28 Oct 2016)

Hi all,
For my 200l aquarium I wanted to use a soil base and cap it with a cheap gravel/ substrate which would be best for plants. The only trouble is I do not want to use too fine gravel as it tends to make it harder for plant roots to penetrate but dont want too coarse of a gravel that the roots will not take to it (I know the roots will mainly take to the soil but having a good sized gravel will help this in my opinion. 
Therefore what sized gravel should I go for, I thought 1-2 mm and am using plants such as crypts and echinodorus', however would 2-4 mm be suitable? ( I should know this but have always bought substrate specifically for planted tanks).

Also I have seen a wetlands aquatic compost in a 20l bag for £5 however reading an article about using these composts the author suggests to go for an organic one, I will upload a picture of the bag cover as I wish to know whether this soil is suitable for use in my aquarium or if there are certain fertilisers or chemicals that will result in problems in the tank?

Thanks Ryan


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## Vanish (28 Oct 2016)

There are answers to your questions in this thread. 
http://www.ukaps.org/forum/index.php?threads/18943/


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## Ryan Young (28 Oct 2016)

Sorry tried to delete this thread, thought I had but must not have. I remembered a saved link about the compost on UKAPS.


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