# Slopes



## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

I have a 40b that I am going to set it up this fall. I have always used sand and dirt for substrates but I would like this substrate to have some permanent slopes. So I am looking for some suggestions about ways to accomplish this. 
Thanks.


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

Most substrates will not hold a slope by themselves. 
I build retaining walls out of rock and expanding foam. There is a black one for water falls, and the construction (yellow-tank) that is also aquarium safe, and may coordinate better with some rocks and substrate. 
I have also used thin strips of acrylic, more for keeping substrate separate, not so much for slopes. I have not glued them down, but they seem to work OK for a change of substrate.


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

You can use a substructure of rocks and pile the substrate on those. I have also seen plastic mesh bags of lava rock used the same way. Obviously, if you make the slope too steep the substrate will slide off of it.


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## Yo-han (Oct 15, 2010)

Here is an idea: http://www.cau-aqua.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=38&Itemid=38

They use pantyhoses with substrate in it...


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

Thanks for the feedback. 
It seems people devise many ideas about what to put under the surface substrate. What is it that keeps the cap itself from settling?


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Most of these people are not using a soil-and-cap substrate, which makes it easier. And in Yohan's example, rocks are still used to hold the substrate on the slope created by the bags. Also, areas of bare substrate are planted with low-growing ground covers with dense root systems.

Your question is really interesting because I've always liked those tanks with lots of topography, but I am a confirmed soil-and-cap guy. The other thing I wonder about is how they keep those deep substrates from becoming anaerobic.


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

I don’t usually worry about anaerobic conditions in the substrate. I’ve pulled apart plenty of substrates that were obviously anaerobic to some degree but didn’t seem to affect the aquariums in any real negative way. Perhaps I should add a caveat about healthy plant growth to that statement. There are some benefits like co2 production in those conditions. 
I do have practically enough plants to almost fill the tank at this point. Perhaps that would work. I have for instance a flat (~12”X24”) filled with eleocharis, glosso and lilaeopsis that I could use as large sections of ground cover. I have noticed that transplanting a healthy root ball, even one consisting of almost all dirt is not really a problem at all. 
Maybe I could combine that idea with Diana’s about rock and expanding foam and the other suggestions about bottom space fillers. One of my desires here is to have the ‘ground’ level at the glass as low as possible from all views. (360)


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Sounds like a plan, please show us some photos. Having a "sod" to plant on sloping areas should help a lot.


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