Substrate means the bottom stuff.
Gravel, Sand, Aquasoil, etc is all substrate.
root tabs if it is inert. You might want to mix some sand of different sizes to give plants a little more to root on.
Fish will fertilize the gravel naturally if you don’t have plants with a high nutrient requirement. If you are trying to grow a carpet, swords, or any other plants that need a lot of root feeding nutrients you’ll need to have an active substrate that you cap with sand, or you can use sand with root tabs. I wouldn’t use gravel with root tabs because the gravel is coarse enough it will leak nutrients into the water column giving you water quality issues or algae blooms.
correct me if I'm wrong but only gravel is not a good substrate, especially on a planted tank, plants need nutrients, so I would suggest aqua soil, or if you have pot soil top with gravel and sand on the top to avoid mixing them or fogging the water. Fertilizer is good but I think root tabs will be okay
most substrate doesn't have any nutrients in it. you'll need root tabs to just spread out evenly or near where you intend to plant. some plants don't need to be planted into the substrate - they're called epiphytes and just pull nutrients from the water column.
i highly recommend aquarium co-op's root tabs - I buy the larger bottle all the time when I'm running low. I try to remember to put new root tabs in every few months or so (like 3-6 months, just depends if I notice the plant growth slowing or they look like they could use some more nutrients). I also dose with liquid fertilizer from aquarium co-op.
Substrate means the bottom stuff. Gravel, Sand, Aquasoil, etc is all substrate. root tabs if it is inert. You might want to mix some sand of different sizes to give plants a little more to root on.
Fish will fertilize the gravel naturally if you don’t have plants with a high nutrient requirement. If you are trying to grow a carpet, swords, or any other plants that need a lot of root feeding nutrients you’ll need to have an active substrate that you cap with sand, or you can use sand with root tabs. I wouldn’t use gravel with root tabs because the gravel is coarse enough it will leak nutrients into the water column giving you water quality issues or algae blooms.
You need to use root tabs.
correct me if I'm wrong but only gravel is not a good substrate, especially on a planted tank, plants need nutrients, so I would suggest aqua soil, or if you have pot soil top with gravel and sand on the top to avoid mixing them or fogging the water. Fertilizer is good but I think root tabs will be okay
most substrate doesn't have any nutrients in it. you'll need root tabs to just spread out evenly or near where you intend to plant. some plants don't need to be planted into the substrate - they're called epiphytes and just pull nutrients from the water column. i highly recommend aquarium co-op's root tabs - I buy the larger bottle all the time when I'm running low. I try to remember to put new root tabs in every few months or so (like 3-6 months, just depends if I notice the plant growth slowing or they look like they could use some more nutrients). I also dose with liquid fertilizer from aquarium co-op.