# Soil under sand?



## tigerbee (Dec 16, 2010)

I am switching my 20 gallon long from gravel to seachem black sand. I like the look of sand much better. I am not sure how much to buy. I originally thought 2 15.4# bags would be enough but the substrate estimator on seachem's website showed that I would need double that amount! I am thinking I want 1-2 inches in the front with a slope upwards to the back. 
I am getting it at wholesale pricing ordering through the dog supply store that I work at, which is awesome, but I have to buy it by case of 2 so I either have to get 2 or 4. Or I could have a layer or something else under the sand, right? What should I do?


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

If you really like the black sand, then get the amount you need to have you slope. You can put soil underneath as "filler", but this also introduces nutrients into your tank and you'll need to account for that (look through the El Natural section of this forum). Currently all of my tanks use natural soil capped with gravel or sand or other material. But you must be careful with that and understand what that soil is doing for your plants and balance your routine accordingly.


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