T. kweichowensis substrate

[foster]

Well I am finally in the process of moving the kweichows that I acquired back in the summer into a permanent setup. I am using a 50 gal breeder tank, 36" x 18" x 19" (LWH) - sorry to the rest of the world for using US measurements. I have a thick piece of driftwood to divide the area into roughly half land, half water. The depth of the water will be app 6 inches. I plan on filling in the bulk of the land area with blocks of styrofoam and hiding this by filling in the areas around the sides and the surface with aquarium gravel. I have a Zoo-Med brand canister filter for filtration. I also have cork bark flats that will serve as shelters for the land area. Now (finally) my question, Is gravel an acceptable substrate or should I add a layer of moss, soil, etc. I would like to avoid soil if possible as I do not plan on using any terrestrial plants (lots of aquatics though) and soil would only complicate filtration. Suggestions?
Chip

 

[mark]

If it were me, I would use soil, or something. You should have something soft for them. Wait, come to think of it, if you want aquatic plants, use a bunch of java moss as your layer above the gravel, like set it on top of the gravel, and water it down frequently, that would be nice, but its your call, good luck!