Question: Would this be okay substrate?

Hi everyone,
I want my plants to grow better so my axies have more fun places to hide. I was wondering if I used this and then put some very fine sand on top, will that be okay? Also, how often do you have to stir the sand? Thanks!

If you look for plants on driftwood & rocks you get the best of both worlds plants attached to
Hides that are easy to move ' clean around as well as being much hardier low light loving plants.

I'm not sure about the soil you linked to except to say that covering it in sand doesn't mean your lotl won't go rummaging through the sand to get to it... If your covering sand adds too much depth you'll risk have gas bubble build ups which you need to stir up the sand to get rid of them, if there's layers it's going to be even more difficult to keep it neat.



<3 >o_o< <3

Be wary of substrates specifically for plants, some have fertilizer and some are heavy in iron or other random things.

I stir sand once a week usually

Okay, thanks. I was wondering because I know some people use just organic dirt and then put some sand on top.

Nikki71 said:

If you look for plants on driftwood & rocks you get the best of both worlds plants attached to
Hides that are easy to move ' clean around as well as being much hardier low light loving plants.

I'm not sure about the soil you linked to except to say that covering it in sand doesn't mean your lotl won't go rummaging through the sand to get to it... If your covering sand adds too much depth you'll risk have gas bubble build ups which you need to stir up the sand to get rid of them, if there's layers it's going to be even more difficult to keep it neat.



<3 >o_o< <3

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I would love to find plants on driftwood, but sadly I can never find any! It's hard enough just to find plants at the pet shops around me.

I wouldn't go for it. I want to start planting my own tank soon, and I asked an experienced aquarium shop owner about those kind of substrates. He told me that after about 6 months of being in the aquarium all nutrients in it will be gone. You'd have to constantly remove the old and bring in the new, making a complete mess of your water.

He told me that this doesn't really matter anyway; underwater plants get about 10% of their nutrients through their roots and about 90% through their leaves. So you'd have to get a decent aquarium fertilizer (they sell these at pet shops), they shouldn't harm your axies at all.

This next step is optional; but if you want a beautiful and thriving planted tank you'd probably need some kind of CO2 equipment.

And attaching plants to driftwood or rocks isn't hard at all. All you need is some fishing line.


Attaching Mosses to Driftwood or Rocks

cashsand said:

I would love to find plants on driftwood, but sadly I can never find any! It's hard enough just to find plants at the pet shops around me.

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Not sure where you are located...
I'm sure you have the same thing there as here though...

Look for local Aquarium Forums. (here we have WA FishBox and a few others)
We have several local aquarium groups, one the GSAS is actually holding an auction soon which includes plants. There was another group 2 weeks ago that was just a table sale they had for fish/plants/rocks.

Aquabid and Ebay are where I get a ton of my plants that are hard to find.

Thanks Tephra! I'll have to try that!
Katie, thanks! I'm in Minnesota, and all my local places just don't seem to sell plants, but I did hear of a new pet shop that I'm hoping to try.