Re: Substrate help

Yes, you can use sand.  How much you use depends on wheather or not
you intent to put in plants.  If not, you can put in as little as you
like as it will just be there for aesthetics or for certain fish that
like to dig around in it.  You probably don't want more than 1"-2"
deep in this case because you won't have plant roots to prevent
anaerobic areas to form.  If you do intend to plant the tank you'll
want to use 3"-5" and include some laterite and/or root tabs for
fertilizer.  Even with plants you will need to poke around in the sand
once a month to aerate any areas that rootless.

If you want my opinion, sand is better than plain gravel, but if
you're going to plant the tank flourite is the way to go.  Sand vs
gravel is a personal preference, imho.

Cris


On Sat, 20 Sep 2003 07:13:39 -0700, "James and Vikki Gilby"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

>Hi, I'm kinda new to the hobby, and was wondering if it is acceptable to use
>sand (instead of gravel) as freshwater substrate?  If so, at what ratio to
>gallons of water? It's a brand new tank, so there are no inhabitants yet.
>Also what type of filtration would be best...it's a big tank 150 gallons or
>more. I appreciate any help.  TIA   Jim
>