[rday]

a guy at a lfs reccomended a good quantity of sand in the tank if i want plants. does anyone know anything about this? if it is necessary, how much? i'm setting up a 120 gallon and i have 125 # of gravel for it. would throwing in 50 # of sand under the gravel do the trick? should i return a bag of gravel and put in more sand? thanks a lot. by the way- im planning on having amazon sword, corkscrew grass, java moss and maybe some hornwort or moneywort. nothing to exotic or strange

 

[unxchange]

Your LFS should have gravel that is mainly for planted tanks, if not a mix of sand and gravel would work also. The reason why plants need gravel/sand/clay for their roots is for minerals/water absorption, since aquatic plants are already under water, there is always an abundance of it. If you are planning on having a full planted tank (like the jungle type) you should consider having an CO2 machine also.

Good luck.

 

[Poseidon X]

why dont you just got with a sand bottom. Alot of times it is much easier to take care of. I have a mixture of sand and gravel which has worked well, although I could see it being a pain with pygos.

 

[rday]

i've looked a little bit at the co2 machines. how much do they usually cost to run? is there any alternative to buying a co2 canister for them? also, do you hook something like that up to the main tank or can you put it to the sump?

 

[unxchange]

how much do they usually cost to run?

Cost to run? You mean monthly? I wouldn't think the electricity bill would show a dramatic rise.

is there any alternative to buying a co2 canister for them?

If you don't want to run a CO2 machine, you can always buy these self sprayed cans, you put the whole can in the water and press, and the can will release CO2 (not sure how well these work), but it's an alternative.

do you hook something like that up to the main tank or can you put it to the sump

Usually in the tank itself.

 

[traumatic]

nothing but planted tanks:

Planted tank .net

 

[Innes]

Great link traumatic