Substrate..again

[domjd05]

So as many of you know, I am currently setting up my 125g planted discus tank.. and I've kind of been going going back and forth on what I should use for substrate.. I finally settled on eco-complete with tahitian moon sand on top... but let's face it... enough eco-complete to plant an entire 125 gallon tank is going to cost me a lot of money...

My water out of the tap is something like 7.2.... with driftwood and some time, it'll be 6.8 (using my 46g as a reference there..)
My water is naturally soft.. so that's not a problem
I will have 2wpg of 6500k lighting... so I'm doing low-light/medium light plants..
I plan to use flourish, and flourish excel for ferts, and some root-tabs occasionally as well..



The tank will be moderately planted.. mostly Vallisneria gigantea, and Star Grass for the background.. after that there will be few plants scattered throughout the mid and foreground (swords and some grasses, maybe some Cabomba.. nothing too fancy)

I guess my question is.. with decent lighting, ferts.. is the plant substrate really necessary? Will dumping hundreds of dollars of plant substrate in this tank really make the plants grow THAT much better? If this was a smaller tank, I wouldnt hesitate to try it.. but what if I just put a thick layer of eco-complete on say.. the back half of the tank, to help the background plants..

I'm asking this because I just read the sticky about caring for live plants.. and she mentioned not to use any plant substrate, just make sure it's not anything to compact (like sand?...which I plan to use..hm)

I'm confused.

[rich311k]

You do not need a planted substrate, plain old gravel will work. You will probably see better growth with the eco. With medium low light plants and lighting plain gravel with root tabs should do the job for you.

Putting in the eco just in the back half will work as well. You will need some type of restraining wall or eventually the substrates will mix.

[Lady Hobbs]

I have this in two tanks and about to order more for my third planted tank.

http://www.aquariumplants.com/Freshwater_Aquarium_Plant_Substrate_p/ss.htm

A 5 gallon pail is just right for a 55 gallon so take it from there.

[Lady Hobbs]

PS I also want to try his fert method. He has several kinds but says the pellets for plants are the best without any algae so we'll see.

[domjd05]

Interesting, thanks for the link Lady Hobbs, I plan on buying my plants from him.