potted plants with flourite and/or sand?

[Orange Crush]

So, I've decided to use potted plants in my 75 gal discus tank; I'm planning on buying 4"+ sized discus.
I am going to put the plants in terra cotta pots but I was not sure about what pottting substrate to use. I have plenty of black flourite so, I thought maybe I could use that with a layer of white/beige silica pool filter sand on top so I can easily see if there is any food or poop that needs to be cleaned up.

Will this work or is it a bad idea?

Would I also need to use root tabs?

Where can I get silica pool filter sand that is safe for fish?

[nwehrman]

If you use fluorite (which is fine) you just have to add root tabs. Fluorite will help hold nutrients but does not have any to begin with; at least that is my understanding.

I used organic miracle grow potting mix with a sand cap in my potted (glass cups) so I can observe my root action for a little bit and not have to fertilize at all. Have two in my growout tanks... All good...

[Mannie Bothans]

TactusMortus posted this about covering the entire bottom, not about pots, and it wasnt on a discus forum, so be advised that any substrate is going to be harder to clean than none at all:

For Reference: CEC=Cation-exchange capacity in layman terms that is the amount of nutrients a soil is capable of storing. Inert=In terms of soil simply means the soil contains nothing of any value to plants by itself.

Regular Aquarium Gravel: Pros: Cost, Easy To Gravel Vac, No Real Risk of anaerobic pockets Cons: Hard to plant in, Inert, Foreground plants do not grow or spread well in it, appearance

Eco Complete-Pros-Appearance, High CEC, Rough Surface Easy For Mosses And Smaller Plants To Attach To Cons-Lacking Key Plant Nutrients, Cost, Inconsistent size makes it hard to make hills and slopes that stay

Turface/Schultz Aquatic Plant Soil/Pondcare Aquatic PlantSoil/AquariumPlants.com Substrate/Kitty Litter/Oil Dri-Pros-Appearance, Uniform Size, High CEC, Cost Cons-It is very light and easily disturbed, Lacking Key Plant Nutrients

Aquasoil-Pros-Includes Key Plant Nutrients, Uniform Size, Holds Slopes Well Compared To Other Substrates, Durability as it looks great for years, Lowers PH And Water hardness Cons-Cost, Leaches ammonia into the water for a couple of weeks or so, and needs big water changes, often, to get rid of the ammonia initially., Can be messy while rescaping

Mineralized Top Soil-Pros-Cost, Includes Key Plant Nutrients, Availability, Little Need For Additional Ferts Cons-Time consuming to make, Must Be Topped, Ingredients Hard To Come By, Can Be Messy When Rescaping

Miracle Grow Organic-Pros-Cost, Includes Key Plant Nutrients, Availability Cons-Can Be Messy When Rescaping, Must be Topped, Temporary Gas Pockets

Flourite Regular/Sand-Pros-High CEC For Regular, Appearance, Uniform Size Cons-Cost, Lacks Key Plant Nutrients, Lots of Rinsing, Possible magnetic pieces (could scratch glass when using magnetic cleaner)

Blasting Sand-Pros- Cost, Appearance, Uniform Size, Availability Cons- Inert, No CEC, May Require Root Tabs

Pool Filter Sand-Pros- Cost, Appearance, Uniform Size, Availability Cons- Inert, No CEC, May Require Root Tabs, Discolors over time

Play Sand-Pros-Cost, Appearance, Uniform Size, Availability Cons- Inert, Very Light, Compacts Which Creates Anaerobic Pockets, May Require Root Tabs

Fluval Stratum-Pros: contains some nutrients, doesn't leach ammonia, good particle sizes Cons: Cost, Must Be Rinsed (This is debatable as some suggest not rinsing to keep water clear.)

Estes Black Sand-Pros: Uniform Size, Appearance, Cost, Not Silica Based Sand Cons: Inert, No CEC, May Require Root Tabs

Pea Gravel: Pros: Cost, easy to aquascape and clean, to some appearance may be a pro, eliminates risk of anaerobic pockets Cons: inert, eliminates a lot of options for foreground plants, root tabs don't work as well.

Hagen GEO System Pacific Gravel #2 (actually sand) Pros: doesn't compact, easy to plant in, holds slopes well, not stark white like silica sand, looks very natural Either way: acts as a pH buffer Cons: light colored so hard to clean, cost, some random black/red granules, needs rinsing

Side Notes: Substrate fertilizing isn't essential with the inert substrates. Plants will grow well with or without substrate ferts, but then you have to be very consistent in following the column fertilizer dosing method you use, so you don't run out of any of them. With substrate fertilizing you can be more relaxed about dosing the water without worrying about the effect on the plants.

[Orange Crush]

Where can I get silica pool filter sand that is safe for fish? Is all pool filter sand safe?

[judy]

all pool filter sand will be fine. I top my pots with pebbles, as my clown loach hoovers enthusiastically and tends to spill...

[Chicago Discus]

I used flourite in one of my tanks and its just a breeding ground for bacteria had to get rid of it just my opinion ..........Josie

[Orange Crush]

So then what do you recommend?

[Disgirl]

I use potting soil in 3/4 of the pot then pool filter sand on the top 1/4. Works great. I put some fert tabs into the soil after awhile. Soil has some ferts in it already in the package.
Barb

[Orange Crush]

Any kind of potting soil? Don't some of them have ferts or chem that are toxic to fish?

[judy]

I do the same as Disgirl, but topped with pebbles on top of the sand. I still get a little sand kicked out. Just use plain potting soil; read the bag label to make sure it has no contaminants. I scooped up some of the soil from one of my outdoor planters.

[BillyinNYC]

Just a note: if you lay sand on top of flourite or any other larger sized substrate, the sand will eventually go to the bottom. You might want to consider using pea gravel instead. Or just the flourite.