What's the best substrate for planted aquarium with fish?

Question

I've got a 150 gallon tank and would like to plant a nice aquatic garden and then add fish. The more research I do, the more options I come up with, the more confusing it becomes. Everything from speciality products like eco-complete to play box sand, kitty litter, garden loam - help! Real life suggestions from real people would be greatly appreciated. (I really don't think I would ever try the kitty litter, but some people use it...)
Thanks.

Where - in a general sort of way - should I look for Flourite ... pet stores? Home and garden supply? Anybody got a fave website? (Ditto w/ anything else.) The only flourite I know is a pretty semi-precious stone, but I doubt it's any relation to aquarium flourite. Thanks for the great answers so far!!

Answer 1

For larger tanks, using only specialised planting substrate could be really very expensive unless you've bottomless pockets. The reason for using such specialised substrates is to provide constant & long term nutrient needs for plants, primarily those who mainly take in nutrients via the roots and plants who need more iron.
For the majority of planted tanks & with a more modest budget, different layers of substrate are used, may be up to 4 layers. The total substrate depth should be about 2.4 - 4 in (6-10 cm), the min & max depth should be sloping from front of the tank to the back (also make it slightly undulating to look natural). Too deep and you will have more compacting problems with inadequate aeration of the lowest parts (substrate will turn black).
Those who use a heating cable will need a base substrate of very fine granularity (about 0.04 in or 1mm), sand is ideal but only enough to just cover the cable.
Most people will start with a main rooting substrate as the bottom layer. A grain size of 0.08-0.12 in (2-3mm) is ok and you can choose to mix some nutrient-rich substrate or leave it as it is.
If you had mixed nutrient additives into the bottom layer, you can make the next layer the top substrate layer. If not, suggest to have a thin layer of nutrient-rich substrate (eg. laterite, aquarium planting soil or specialty substrate) sandwiched between the top & bottom substrate layers.
For the top layer, you can use common pea gravel, quartz or lime-free gravel (lime-free or inert is essential if you're having a softwater setup) or sand. You need to know the pros & cons of different options.
If you have bottom feeders like corydoras & other catfish, avoid top layers with sharp/rough edges that may injure their barbels & bottom; you can use silver or river sand or rounded pea gravel. Note that sand is easier to churn up & get clogged in your filter.
Dark colored substrates & backgrounds are better as fish feel more secure, avoid very light colored (eg. white & very light brown) gravel which can reflect tank lighting into fish eyes & stress them out. Same for those fake painted gravel with reflective/glossy surfaces. Currently black gravel is popular as it looks attractive & will better show the color of fish with metallic sheens eg. neon tetras & many other Amazonian fish.
Suggest to stick to stuff that are meant for aquariums and avoid gardening soil, kitty litter & building/construction materials as you won't know what other chemicals/additives are inside which could poison both plants & fish.
Your choice of fish & plants will help to decide what kind of substrates to use. The factors for fish are dark or light colored, soft or hard water, any bottom feeders & substrate diggers ? For plants, rooting plants & root depths, plants with red leaves (need more iron), plants with short roots will be uprooted easily in fine-grade substrate.
I'm not surprised you got confused as I had the same experience when researching for my planted tank. There are really way too many details to go into, beyond the scope of this forum, but all very interesting & rewarding to see your research pay off with a flourishing planted tank when other people are scratching their heads over their dying plants.
For my own planted tank, I use Seachem Flourite as the main bottom layer, then a thin layer of specialised aquarium soil (by GeX from Japan) and finally topped by pea gravel (mix of natural colors). There is an open foreground area with sand for corydoras to play in. My plants are growing like crazy & I've to trim them down every week. Good luck with yours and feel free to ask more questions.

You can check out Seachem's website on Flourite (http://www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/Flourite.html). The recommended use is 1 kg (2 lbs) for approximately each 200 sq cm (31 sq in) of tank bottom at a depth of 5 cm (2 in). It comes in 7 kg (15.4 lbs) bags, so you need to calculate how much you need. Seachem also has a range of proven liquid fertilisers for regular planted tank maintenance.

I think many larger or more established fish/pet stores should carry Flourite, Seachem's website also lists their select dealers. Alternative is ordering on-line. I have not ordered this on-line so am in no position to recommend, but you can easily Google to find out & compare on-line prices with store prices.

Answer 2

Aquarium Substrate

Answer 3

You have a great idea though need a larger tank for sticklebacks. The one's you are mentioning are babies & you need to provide for their full size. NANFA North American Native Fish Association is a great group that has information on native species as well as sticklebacks. Substrate: taking substrate from the river is fine though you need to sterilize it or you will have disease, parasites, etc. in your aquarium. Take some substrate & rinse it very very well to get as much detris, etc. out of the substrate then put it in a large pot & boil & stir this for 30 minutes or so. After cooled it will be acceptable for the aquarium. Plants: The issue is lighting. Different plants have different lighting requirements. I provide 3 watts per gallon of full spectrum lighting on my live plant tanks. Live plants are a lot of work and I would suggest against this if your focus is the sticklebacks. We have many wonderful fish in North America and you will enjoy an aquarium with sticklebacks though make sure you do some research first so they live a long happy life.

Answer 4

Since your trying out for the first time, i will recommend Flourite, not flouride(thats for the denstits). It's sold in America more commonly than other substrates. Flourite needs to be washed, washed,pre-wash,roughed wash, post washed. Then dry it in a towel. Flourite is a great substrate thats can be moved and is very good when starting out, but Flourite has lots of dust thats why i recommend washing and then drying it so you don't have to wash it a gain. Eco-complete is another good begginer substrate, but Flourite is much better because it's heavier and the plants don't float as much. SAnd as a full substrate, leave it to the pros. No soil or loam if your starting out. Anyways, Flourite comes in original,red, black and the black. And for the price. If you do this all flourite its going to get expensive so this are some tricks of trade-
1. Cute the amount of flourite by half and the other half will ve that pebble natural 2mm-4mm gravel. One pound per dollar at Petsmart!
2. You have some space for views, people put a front space of sand, now this might come expensive if sand is hard to get in your area, but if not, this could also help.
3.Since you need 2inchs of layer,1/4 of the top can be sand!

Answer 5

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
What's the best substrate for planted aquarium with fish?
I've got a 150 gallon tank and would like to plant a nice aquatic garden and then add fish. The more research I do, the more options I come up with, the more confusing it becomes. Everything from speciality products like eco-complete to play box sand, kitty litter, garden loam - help! Real...

Answer 6

Well, that's really up to you. Lots of people swear by mixing their own substrait. Some say that a sandy base is best because the plants can root easiest. Other people will go gravel. There's a product out there called Flourite which is specifically made for planted tanks and is made mostly of latterite. Either way, the common component they all share is having Latterite mixed in. I personally just mixed the latterite with my gravel and my plants did fine.

Planted tanks are quite the endevor, but they're worth it. Make sure you research how to do it, what the thoughts are behind what you're doing, and what equipment you will be needing. Here's some links to get you started:
http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/index.php
http://www.floridadriftwood.com/aquarium_plant_info.html
http://www.ahsupply.com/
http://www.floridadriftwood.com/store.asp
http://www.aquabid.com/
http://www.thatpetplace.com/

That should be plenty to point you in the right direction.

Answer 7

Laterite clays,sand,bentonite clays,Gravel? You could hedge your bet buy growing your plants in containers,and just discreetly disguising them.