Question with planting and sand.

fortmyersdrew

Alright im not sure what I should do. I have a 50 gallon tank. For the substrate I have playsand about 3" worth. Is there something else I need to add? I have had the tank running for 1 week with no fish. Just sand and water. Is there a list of plants I can add to the tank is there anything extra I need to do?. Much appreciated

okiemavis

Play sand is great, but you do have to be a bit careful to prevent it from compacting around the roots of plants. I'd recommend adding malaysian trumpet snails, as they stir up the sand, and of course, frequent gravel vacs. You'll also want to add fertilizer to the substrate as well, as sand doesn't naturally have any. Roots tabs are made by a variety of different companies and you can just stick it in the sand right under each rooted plant.