I would think sand would get sucked up when you siphoned the bottom. Would look great though.

Hi
I use sand in the 75 paludarium i wouldn't recommend it
for several reasons As James pointed out ,it will get sucked into power filters and grind that impeller to dust lol.. Sooner or later you will get a piece between a magnetic glass cleaner . Presto minute scrathes. Have a half dozen other negatives if interested lol
If your not going to keep an animal that needs sand I'd go with gravel. Flourite is great but expensive.
Some type of plant will grow in any media you choose including nothing. The most important thing is LIGHT. Obviously the more substrate the more problems and is really only important to rooted plants even then only for elaborate multi species setups . If you don't want to get into CO2 and the fish are more important than the plants and you don't want to enter design contests . I'd go with a thin layer of 2/3 MM gravel. Grown Java fern or moss on driftwood or rocks..Floating plants. 2/3 watts per gallon of light will mean less algae cleaning will be a breeze.
In my 150 setup I went with layered topsoil . with gravel and sand on top. Scintered glass and acrylic chips in areas to keep runners in check. The sword lace plant areas are 6 inches deep. It is runaway the most gorgeous planted tank I've ever had. The swords and lace plants are
28 inches tall lol The lace plants actually go dormant and regrow without any help.
I would NOT recommend this as it took almost 3 months for the substrate to stabilize!! Imagine putting dirt in your tank on purpose ?? lol Sure a lot of work but wow is it great to look at now . The dwarf water lilies not only grow they flower almost constantly. It's now going on the third year and there are signs the substrate is becoming depleted
Not sure I dould stand 6 months of murky water again.
I'm so tempted to use this in the 1000 gallon pond but imagine setting up a 5x10 foot planting bed?? Good luck with your setup!! gary

You guys are probably right. I'll steer clear of the sand.
I'll have to 'google' some pictures of neons and guppys and other small fish that I'm thinking of stocking. I want to see them in the wild...In South America...I'm sure there will be moss, plants, driftwood etc. I like different sizes of rocks too. Smooth stones etc. I can't imagine doing all that with topsoil etc. Must be an incredible amt. of work to change/clean. What's Flourite? I don't think I've ever heard of that. I think I'll try some Lotus Seeds that I have. Then I could transfer it to the pond. Also...is that 2 to 3 watts per gl. or two-thirds of a Watt? Thanks!

-Andy

Hi
Two to three watts per gallon. Gives the most versatility with the least amount of problems. For truly "landscaped" tanks 5 or even 10 is great!!
Flourite is a materal manufactured for planted tanks ideal size never compacts contains iron. Never bounces pH.
Only problem about 1.00 per pound. and you need about one pond per gallon though you can mix it with straight gravel. But not over 50 percent.
It's necessary to be a special moron to use topsoil lol.
But WOW does it work lol gary

I've read quite a bit about Eco-Complete. Does anyone have long-term experince with that? I definitely want a planted aquarium.

-Andy

And while I'm in question mode...has anyone used Hagen CO2 Natural Plant System?

Hi
I would suggest going to the internet sites on "planted aquaria" The KRIB has tons of info from very simple to "Amano" style landscaped tanks. The equipment and plant profiles are very useful.
A four foot tank is a good start because of the many lighting choices that will fit and can be upgraded depending on your interest.
The aquatic plant sites which hold contests pix will narrow down which types you want.. Some of these tanks are works of art. A planted tank can be as simple or as complex as you choose. gary

about sand in the planted tank. it is a great idea, you said the tank was going to be heavily planted sand is one of the best substrates you can use for plants. you dont have to worry about sucking up the sand in the siphon as you will not be siphoning the substrate with a heavily planted tank.although you may want to add a little small sized gravel to keep the sand from compacting to much along with a bottom fertilizer. and there is countless plants that you can keep with out co2,low lighting plants and high lighting plant the set up is endless.i have 3 planted tanks set up right now a 75, 90, 125 and they are great.if you do decide to go with plants the require co2 let me know and i will send a link to get the co2 set up very reasonable. and also plants.

I had a 75 gallon that was set up with Black Tahitian moon sand that looked awesome until my malawi cichlids started pooping all over it. (Actually, it was mainly the pleco) Anyway, I had a horrible experience with siphoning up the sand, but if you plant rooted plants you really won't have to worry about doing a gravel vac, and if you see too much mulm (poop, etc) starting to build up you can take a turkey baster and use that to lift the crud up and then siphon it without the sand. I had an overflow with sump so I never had an issue with sand getting into the filter. I've heard tons of good stuff about eco-complete, the only down thing I heard is that it compacts a little at the bottom when it settles, which isn't great for the roots... but not many people brought this up and you could always put a fine layer of gravel at the bottom first to prevent the compaction. Good luck. Sand is great, but when I go for my planted tank set-up I'm using fluorite! My other 55 gallon will have shell dwellers in it, so I'll be using sand for them. If you want low light plants, you can look at java fern and anubias and those grow off of rhizomes, which just use their roots to attach to wood or stone or even substrate, so those are two excellent choices of plants there that won't care what kind of substrate you have. Goodluck!

I currently have 2 tanks operating with fine sand over Flourite, a L 20 and 55 and both have become jungles.

Once the sand has settled in a planted tank and the roots have established, clearing mulm really isn't all that difficult. Just don't get the end of the siphon tube close enough to the sand to take it up. The mulm is so much lighter than the sand and never as compacted, so once you determine the right diameter of hose to use for just enough to pick up mulm, you can run the end of the hose just above the surface and suck up mulm without taking up sand.

BTW: If you use a foam prefilter over the intake strainer on a power filter, it will never pick up any gains of sand to damage the impeller. It's also a great way to combine bio-filtration with mechanical.

When I do water changes on the 55, I use two siphon hoses. First a small diameter, to clear the mulm from the substrate, then a larger size held higher in the water, just to drain it more quickly. It works.

Actually, the largest chore with the sand is in cleaning it before you use it and why I'm awaiting spring and warm weather to wash enough to set up another 55. I washed the flourite for it in the sink in my greenhouse and ended up needing to clean out the sump with a shop vac afterwards. The next batch will be done in a watering trough, where extra sand below and around it will be a benefit and not a problem.

I'm trying the Eco-Complete on a smaller scale before I ry it in the 75. Here's a picture from tonight. I'll let you all know how it goes.

-Andy

Here is a link that might be useful: Eclipse 6

Here it is...sorry!

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this is the co2 system i use on all my planted tanks