# Sand troubles



## Lowee (Mar 17, 2007)

I've got a bit of a dilema with the sand in my new set-up, its black tahitian moon sand by the way. With the subsrate i am using (jbl aquabasis), it says i need 4cm of sand on top of it, to stop nutirent leaching. But with that much sand , i am worried about gas pockets builidng up. 

What does everyone suggest?


----------



## david lim (Mar 30, 2004)

THe best solution that I can think up is like with any other setup. Use fast growing mature plants to start off your system and use as much as you can. "Mature" means plants that are already adpated for submersed growth and with some root development. The plants will help to aerate the gravel / "dead spots" and help to prevent the sulfur smelling gases that you're worried about. You'll likely still get some areas of gas (wherever plants can't reach), but overall your tank should be fine. Remember the more plants the better!


----------



## Lowee (Mar 17, 2007)

Thanks for that David, so how thicker layer of substrate would you suggest?


----------



## david lim (Mar 30, 2004)

I haven't used tahitian sand (although it looks awesome) or aquabasis before. Is aquabasis like a mud, clay or soil? My substrates can get very deep (5-7 inches), and I've used fine substrates before like Onyx Sand. In the initial stages I might have some gas pockets here and there, but overall once the plants take over the pockets are gone and aerobic bacteria are able to take over. I would guess that 6-10 cm would be a fairly nice substrate depending on what you're trying to grow.


----------

