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This may help; Tropica soil in "running aquarium"

They should make their minds up about what spheres are; "Eco-Planted’s™ has highly porous spherical grains"

Focus on that. :)

You should probably ignore it now that @Hufsa has found that close-up pic. :)

Good call!

That looks good; dark colour, not too fine, aquarium-safe. And made of quartz, a vaiety of silica. :)

There's a good thread on diatoms here; Diatoms All diatom 'cures' work in almost every case. But diatoms usually disappear of their own accord shortly after they appear. You can use any treatment you like or none at all; they soon go away. :) Silica is what it's made of, - could be any size...

There are some nice dwarf cichlids that are easier to keep than Apistogramma. You could think about: Flag Acara; Laetacara curviceps, Red-breasted Acara; L dorsigera, Keyhole Cichlid; Cleithracara maronii, Golden Dwarf Cichlid; Nannacara anomala, Kribensis; Pelvicachromis pulcher. hth

Do we? You could post a poll to ask people what they use. I don't remember any-one who uses active substrate claiming that they grow plants that users of inert substrates cannot grow. Although the manufacturers make some bold claims. :)

. . . and?

Sorry, I don't know the brand in your pic. If it's good for pond baskets it should be fine for tanks. Westland works for me, there are lots of sellers online. hth

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

You can put pebbles around the base of the plants, the fish will keep their rummaging to the sand/gravel where it's easier. If that doesn't suit the look you are going for, you can remove the pebbles when the roots are established.

No. Yes. No. :) Welcome! :)

I think I'll save my tens of pounds and trust my cheap nose. If it smells like rotten eggs, it's unlikely to be anything other than H2S. :)

Aquariumscience says; "Another myth is that there are anaerobic substrates which produce poisonous hydrogen sulfide gas bubbles. This is also patently false." A statement which would be very difficult to prove to be true. But it is easily proved to be false, for instance by @Soilwork smelling...

I bet you won't find one with a proven link. Mostly it's "my fish died so it must be the sand, because I couldn't have done anything wrong". Years ago unexplained fish deaths wereusually attributed to feeding live Tubifex, again without any evidence. It was easy because everybody fed it. Now...

Probably the biggest one of all.

Absolutely, especially if it comes from some-one with something to sell. And if they tell you something is essential, very little is. :)

Crushed coral is very abrasive, not great for your corys to rummage in.

Welcome! :) The plants you have listed don't need a dry start, and mostly wouldn't benefit from it. There are some good threads on the forum about 'cycling' which can give you a lot of information, but you have the right idea, let the plants get established and growing well first, be patient and...

I agree, it's very fine and can compact. If it's densely planted the roots help to keep it aerated, and burrowing snails can help to keep it from compacting. If you want an unplanted area for your corys, you could plant big rosette plants behind it and their roots will spread under the clear area.

Plants that grow on land get all their nutrients through the roots in nature. But in a garden or greenhouse you can often get great results from foliar feeding. It seems reasonable that it could work the other way round for aquatic plants. We don't have to try to mimic nature, we just need to do...

3cm won't be a problem, that's hardly a deep layer. :)

You've got a great excuse for getting another tank or two. :)

That doesn't sound as bad as plain beefheart. Beefheart used to be a popular staple diet for Discus, but it's too rich in protein on its own and can lead to digestive and heart problems. But it is a messy food, as you have found.

I haven't tried, but I think the assassins would eat them, as far as I know they will eat any snails. That's their main diet; some people believe they eat shrimps as well, others are not convinced about that.

So shouldn't you be addressing the uneaten food and waste problem? I don't see how a different substrate will help. Any food left uneaten after a short time needs to be removed. And the substrate needs to be regularly syphoned over to remove waste and muck before it can work its way into the...

Anything more to go on? What issues and why is the substrate to blame?

Labels can get swapped around. I've got some nice Amazon Swords, but I don't know what species they are, as they were labelled Crytocoryne moehlmannii. The shop had a row of them, all labelled alike, so I think they arrived like that, especially as the shop guy was quite sure they were...

If hubby "gets very excited by various bits of circuitry" maybe he would love to build you a dimmer circuit? You could also use floating plant to reduce the light, which could also help you diagnose problems with ferts, as CO2 is removed from the picture. Have a look at some of dw1305's post...

If you have an offcut of that opaque background, you could cover the spraybar with it to make it less obtrusive.

No reviews, good or bad, but you could give it a try. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Trustleaf-Natural-Colour-Silica-Sand/dp/B07SQJMMGQ?pf_rd_p=43a0c38b-793a-4c8f-8d81-3eec68ea2d41&pd_rd_wg=O6GXP&pf_rd_r=GBT4F3ATBGD7V6Q26Y2A&ref_=pd_gw_wish&pd_rd_w=bXJEi&pd_rd_r=786d2716-7d0b-4739-95df-7c79a8ce5894

What grade are you after?

Not all inert. Their coral sand for instance, raises hardness and pH, for when that's what you need.

Yes, builders' sand is sharp, hence the story you mentioned above. If it's the same one I read, a British firm was very pround to have won a contract to supply sand to Saudi Arabia. No shortage of sand there, but not the right sort. :) I used to know a builder who used builders' sand in his...

Yes, silver sand, and playpit sand are really fine and feel quite non-abrasive. Great for fish that sift or burrow in it. But if you don't have sifters or burrowers it can pack down into a tight mass. If you change your fish later and don't want to change substrate, some burrowing snails will...

Any idea what "naturally mined" means? Do they wait for badgers to dig it up? :)

A kitchen shop might be more use, or a pound shop kitchen department. When you put the mixed stuff in the sieve it will probably all stick together, but if you put it in a tub of water and jiggle it, the sand should pass through.

As Keith says, get your soil tested, or get a kit to test it yourself. It may well have some chalk or limestone in it, either naturally or added by a previous owner to improve the soil.

What was the source of the 'dirt'?

And if you didn't use Paypal, claim from your credit or debit card company. You are due for a refund if you haven't received what you ordered. If they sent you goods you didn't order it's up to them to arrange collection, at their expense and at your convenience. They can offer you a deal if...

Another point about the rough-textured substratres is that they can injure fish that grub about in it, something to consider if you're going to keep corys, loaches, dwarf cichlids, many barbs etc.

If "the whole lot" died after a fortnight, you probaby stocked too quickly, you need to increase the stock level gradually. hth

If you have a strange shaped tank, but you know how many litres it holds, you can divide those litres by the height, and multiply the result by the depth of substrate you want to give how many litres of substrate you need.