what substrate do you use?

im about to go shopping for my 10 gallon planted tank, and would like to know what substrate you all use with your planted tanks. im having a tough time trying to figure out which substrate is the best.

i am thinking about just going with small river rocks...

 

I use Aquariumplants.com's substrate

 

I bought some gravel to use in mine. I think with having fish inthe tank ill be ok without fertilizers. Also, im on well water so could i use a little bit of that to help get some iron back in the tank?

 

I've had pretty good success with the eco complete...I've also heard good things about the aquariumplants.com stuff too.

 

You know, Ive ran many FW setups and Ive gone with everything from potting soil caps to sand and tons more.

My favorites were definitely the Azoo plant substrate, its basically compacted spheres of an ash soil, very lightweight so it doesn't compact too heavily which allows roots to grow pretty decently. Its nice, not too many complaints other than price.

My second favorite would definitely be a local creek on my property that I can collect a very fine sand-gravel and small amounts of soil and organics. Ive used this stuff for a long time and It has a very attractive look because its basically like a sand but very rich for plant growth. Of course, always dry it beforehand! I usually strain some of the larger particulates and organics out of the silt of also.


Thats one of my old nano's that was running an azoo substrate. ;D