where to buy bulk substrate

hi guys
where abouts in jhb could i find bulk substrate for a large tank and a realistic price point?
any suggestions would be welcome

 

what substrate are you after
on my large tanks i use pool filter sand

 

how do you find that the plants grow in it (if at all) as i want to plant the tank quite heavily

 

sorry never grown plants

 

There is a thread by @Zippy320 explaining what he did for his planted tank, which you may find helpful - he used normal potting soil covered by pool filter sand.

Before we had Aquasoil etc this was how guys did it, so it will work just fine. The benefit of Aquasoil and all those really pricey ADA products is that all the guesswork and preparation (rinsing, cleaning, removing wood chips etc) is taken care of for you and they are designed to be a complete planted tank substrate.

 

totally agree, the ada etc soil r great but the price to do that on a bigger tank is just eye watering

i am going to do it the old school way basically

 

If you plan your scape carefully you can use a good quality substrate (ADA, Tropica, Dennerle) only in areas where you plant. The rest you can then fill in with crushed lava rock or another cosmetic substrate.

 

Or you could do a bottom layer of some plant substrate of your choice and then fill it in (or cap it, donno if that's the right terminology here..) with pool filter sand (pfs).
But I use pfs only in my 3ft, and I just dose with ferts and root tabs, and my plants grow well. They're all low needs plants like crypts and amazons.
Another option might be to go with an epiphyte only tanks

 

Some excellent ideas coming through here - so to answer the original question I’d suggest you look at nurseries or places that sell good quality potting soil


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thanks for the imput, i got some nice organic soil and capped it so lets see how it goes

 

Preferably don't use potting soil or compost. It can cause ammonia spikes and even tannins. Top soil works best.

 

6 bags of Akadama available if you're interested. R450ea.... Would then top with ADA Tropica soil...

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Guys please share pictures of your tanks and what plants and subtracts you are using and the grow results.
I am really interested in this data as I am planning to redo my 500l hopefully next year. I am a planted tank lover !

 

Check this out then:




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