# What to put under Substrate?



## Snazzy (Sep 24, 2006)

im going to have a 10gal cherry shrimp tank thats planted im going to use sand for the substrate.

my question is do i need to put anything under the substrate before i put the sand in like peat or those florish tablets? will either of those aftect the shrimp?

thanks in advance


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## banderbe (Oct 10, 2005)

I tried using sand when I first got into this hobby. The plants all rotted at the base.

Sand is a poor substrate for the majority of plant species.

You want a substrate that has an average grain size of about 3mm, like flourite, eco-complete, etc.


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## trenac (Feb 15, 2004)

I personally find sand (pool filter) very easy to plant in and to grow very nice plants in. I would use a layer of laterite (first layer pure laterite) underneath the sand to add nutrients for the plant roots. Most of the nutrients will be taken in through the water column from liguid ferts.


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## Snazzy (Sep 24, 2006)

will flourish tabs work also? Product Detail


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## yoink (Apr 21, 2005)

banderbe said:


> I tried using sand when I first got into this hobby. The plants all rotted at the base.


I have the same experience as banderbe, it was play sand. I redid it with laterite, which did cure the rotting roots, but also got mixed up with the sand when uprooting and looked horrible.


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## fresh_lynny (Mar 9, 2006)

Snazzy said:


> will flourish tabs work also? Product Detail


it will help but you have to use ferts in the water column as well. IME over time, sand packs too much and eventually suffocates the root system of both O2 and nutrients. I would use sand for decoration only.


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## TAF CAF (Jan 12, 2006)

A lot depends on the grain of the sand... the play sand I used in Georgia was very fine and killed my plants dead... however, the play sand I got here in CO is larger grained and was pretty good for the plants.

However, it also depends on the plant types you are planting. If you are going for plants that are very dependant on roots, the sand may be bad... if you are going more for moss and such for a shrimp tank, I don't think the sand would be much problem as long as you tied most of your moss/plants to wood or something.

I also like the look of sand in some of my tanks, and I used a cardboard divider (later removed) to seperate areas of the tank for planting and used a fine layer of peat moss under a couple inches of aquatic planting media in the areas I wanted to plant.


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## mrbelvedere (Nov 15, 2005)

Snazzy said:


> im going to have a 10gal cherry shrimp tank thats planted im going to use sand for the substrate.
> 
> my question is do i need to put anything under the substrate before i put the sand in like peat or those florish tablets? will either of those aftect the shrimp?
> 
> thanks in advance


Why get stem plants? Shrimp like sand just fine. How about a few pieces of mossy driftwood to complete the look, and be done with it?

It can be low tech and pleasing to the eye. Use Bright Sand, it is probably the best looking aesthetically, and it won't affect the pH or kH.


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