a little advice please if possible

[alan_uk]

right here goes in my setup i have at the minute

java ferns different veriaties which seem to be doing fine

anubius nana large and petite which seem fine couple of leaves have had a little browning but tank is still new

java moss seems to be doing well and greened up good

and i have a little hair grass at the front which i wanted to grow a carpet from

now this is were the problem lies it gets great lighting and im using tropica liquid ferts as reccomended and have diy co2 which seems constant and the drop checker is always dark green

but i only have sand as substrate but the fact i now have the tank looking how i wanted i didnt want to take everything out to change to aqua soil

so all im basically asking with what im using should the hair grass grow ok and will i get any joy from my riccia fluitans when that arrives will be attached to rock 🙂

thank you for any help and info

 

[Mark Evans]

it's possible to grow many things in inert substrate. Its how i started a few years back.

look at my inlet positioning! what was i thinking? 😳 .........



it turned out ok for inert substrate.

 

[Jack middleton]

IMO, an inert substrate can grow anything, but dosing has to be spot on, with a nutrient enriched substrate, the odd forgotten dose isn't going to matter so much because the plants can get the nutrients from the substrate.

 

[alan_uk]

cheers guys thats all i wanted to know 🙂

my next setup will have aqua soil 110% i kinda rushed things this time and this is a very good example why u shouldnt lol

🙂

thanks again alan

 

[LondonDragon]

I use just standard pea gravel in my Rio 125, have a look at the journal in my sig! 😉

 

[alan_uk]

wow that is awesome

wont the gravel be better than sand though as the roots will be able to move more freely ?

 

[LondonDragon]

The sand tends to compact a lot more, but I have never used sand so can't really say for sure, I have seen people use sand though with good success.