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Instead of hijacking another thread, here we go:

I currently have sand substrate only, but it isn't really great for plants so I'm trying to find a workable alternative. Has anyone tried the gravels from CaribSea, specifically Peace River, Rio Grande, or Kon Tiki?

I have Peace River in one tank and Rio-Grand in my daugters tank, both tanks are lightly planted, with java fern, Anubias barteri, and sword plants, both substrates seem to be ok and the roots of the plants hold very well, and also I can not see any visible ware to my corys barbles.

When I set up my next tank (in a few weeks time) I may try a sand substrate and build a small gravel bar/reef so that I can have a couple of sword plants growing, and am thinking about fixing some Anubias or java fern to some bogwood so I can have some plants in the sandy areas as well, still not 100% sure about how that will work out? as it may turn into one hell of a mess when I do water changes and vac the bottom!.

Here is a photo of my female ram with her fry in the tank with the Peace River gravel, you can get a general idea of it's grain size by comparing it against the fry, they are on their third day as free swimmers in this shot.




And here is a photo of the Rio-Grand gravel in my daughters tank, the grain size is a lot larger than the Peace River, so I suspect that it will not be the best stuff for corys in the long run, but the plants seem to be doing ok with it ATM.


Cheer's...PanzerFodder...

Thanks a bunch. I'm actually trying to figure out an embankment as well. I know the corys will get up under the plants though so I wanted something there they can handle as well. I think I'll either go Peace River or as someone else suggested to me, try sorting out the smaller rocks from a bag of pea gravel.