# sand over top of substrate



## Darkblade48 (Jan 4, 2008)

You can use sand if you like, but do note that it will eventually mix with your Eco Complete.

You can also use sand alone, or Eco Complete alone; it really depends on what you are trying to achieve.


----------



## bigbadjon (Aug 6, 2015)

If I was going to cap a substrate I would use aquasoil under the sand and not have to fertilize for awhile.


----------



## nel (Jan 23, 2016)

you won't be able to cap substrate with big light grain with sand. Over time sand will go down (aquasoil, eco complete, whatever). Sand with root tabs (or something like JBL balls, but I prefer to DIY them) works great, soil works great, together - no.


----------



## TheMakani (May 31, 2017)

the phenomenon nel mentioned is known as granular convection. the smaller particles move to the bottom as the larger particles rise. essentially, the smaller particles (sand) would find space between the larger particles (eco complete) and fall into those spaces.
if you put sand on top of eco complete, eventually the eco complete is going to end up on top of the sand. when i redo my tank I'm planning to use a base of sand and top it with ada amazonia, this way i can save a little money while still getting the height i want.


----------

