jbl aquabasis plus & Sand ?

[lil-lynx]

Hello all

I was wondering would jbl aquabasis plus & sand be OK ?.
The reason for have jbl aquabasis plus under the sand is that i have heard, sand on its own crushes the roots and doesn't promote plant growth, correct me if im wrong.

 

[Themuleous]

Trouble is the two will mix overtime, as the sand is a smaller grain size. You don't necessarily need the aquabasis, sand on its own will not cause you problems with plant roots, and with decent water fertilisation, the plants don't a need nutrient rich substrate, although it helps, of course.

Sam

 

[lil-lynx]

Thanks Themuleous always full of knowledge

 

[Vyncenze]

Is there an alternative base-layer substrate that can be used with sand - something of a similar grain size? Alternatively, could you use a fine mesh between the substrate and the sand to keep them seperate?

 

[CeeJay]

Hi Vyncenze
I don't know of any other substrate with grain sizes that small. The only thing I know with similar grain size is...........more sand .
Personally, I would strongly advise against a mesh in between your 2 layers of substrate, if you go down that route. The main reason is that when your plants grow, the roots grow too (obviously). These would then penetrate the mesh. Now, when you go to uproot a plant, for any reason, you will be disturbing a huge amount of the substrate as the mesh comes up with the plant. Result, one very messy tank (also full of Ammonia).

 

[Vyncenze]

Makes sense

I think I'm going to stick to sand alone and trust myself to keep on top of the water column dosing. Might put a bit of osmocote at the very bottom just for a little extra help.

 

[bigmatt]

I have aquabasis topped with sand and i'm happy with it. Some of the larger particles work their way through the sand but these can be tidied up without too much effort
Hope this helps!
Matt