Regardless of the type of substrate you use and that is
important-But the proper color temp lights are the driving force
behind successful planted tanks-Most plant failures are due to
wrong color temp lights-While we can see the light the plants
can't to use it for energy/photosynthesis. Lights that I
recommend for plants-"Daylight" 6500k...watts vary based on
length of bulb. Florescent light bulbs need to be changed every
12 months since the intensity can be lost over time even though
they still shine-you can see it but the plants can't. All I keep
are the soil/dirt based or natural planted tanks that range from
1gal to 75gal. I use all different kinds of dirt in different
tanks-Some I use either play sand, pool filter sand or small
diameter gravel as the cap for the dirt/soil. The cap is to help
keep the dirt/soil in place and you don't want to use a lot. I
generally recommend/use half as much cap as I do
base....meaning-if I use 1inch of dirt-my cap will be half inch
deep. When using dirt/soil along with p