another sand Q

[sharn]

hello all wanting to re-do the community tank before the discus move in and am wanting to change to sand. i have some sand i recently bought for my axoltols (plasterers sand), washed and baked it and have had no probs in the axie tank. hasnt altered water chemistry either

the community tank has some wierd bracing down the bottom, instead of running paralell to the front and back bottom it runs at a 90 degree angle from the front of the tank (front to back). now this wouldnt be a prob but instead of lying flat its upwards a good 3cm or so, no idea why this is there, maybe for a UG filter? who knows but the sand will have to be at least that thick in those places to cover the glass. im sure most of you know about the problems created by thick sand. i was wondering if i could make it thin in the other parts but slope it up and over the bracing (the bracing is on each third of the tank, ie two bits). im not going to be wanting to give it a good turn over every couple of weeks or so because it will cause too much disruption to plants nearby.
oh! that reminds me... do plants mind sand? i suppose it being so dense the roots would have trouble getting through it?

hopefully i explaned myself well enough, if i didnt let me know and ill try again lol. thanks to all in advance

[Merrilyn]

Hi Sharn, plants do quite well in sand, but remember that there is nothing in there for the plants to feed on, so you'll need to add some kind of fertilizer, or put another layer of peat or similar under the sand.

You'll need to plant fairly heavily in the parts where the sand is very deep, but the fine network of roots from the plants will prevent any problems with the sand becoming toxic.

[sharn]

thanks LR

i might just buy some fertiliser balls for the plants then. i will be mixing some dark largish gravel in with it also for the more natural look.

i have mainly camboma and java fern in there now along with some val and some wierd grassy plants i dont know the name of, will be getting some swords etc (will be doing some reading on amazon plants) so it will be fairly planted *hopefully* but because of the way the bracing runs the plants would have to be planted in rows and i dont want to plant too much at the front, may try the 'pygmy chain sword' is that what its called? ill just see how it goes and if it turns nasty i can alwasy poke alot of holes on the thick bits during routine maintenance?

[wickedglass]

i love sand as a substrate! ... one word of caution though, i know cabomba has been made illegal to keep in Victoria since i think january 1st 2006 ... you may want to find out it's status in your state ... everyone is now using ambulia

[sharn]

hey thanks for your reply wickedglass, im in new zealand so its not a prob here, i love it, spreads so quick it saves me buying lots of plants!