# Pea gravel as substrate



## mosasaur (Jul 20, 2004)

I have a 29G tank that is in the initial stages of being set up, and has pea gravel as substrate. Right now my options are to keep the pea gravel or wait until April, when I can again use the outdoor faucet to screen out grit from coarse sand - I did this for my other tanks and got a great substrate that was not only a good color but was the same size as Texblast, a product that gave me excellent results when I was able to buy it.

My question: Assuming I use ferts, what problems would I encounter using the pea gravel for rooted plants? Would thiis large gravel (probably about 1/8 inch) discourage root growth? Let me forestall some comments - I have no desire to use Flourite or any other such clay-based product; call me unreasonable or prejudiced but it's my choice.


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## mgamer20o0 (Mar 8, 2007)

it works. not the best but cheap. i had it in most of my tanks for years. i think the hardest part is planting foreground plants with small root structure.


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## wadesharp (Nov 27, 2009)

i second its hard to plant plants haha i have it in my 75G piranha tank and they seem to like it...


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