Ok i tore down my crappy 30g and want to redo it with sand and plants but i have questions.
I have never don3 sand or live plants before.
I realize live plants in sand will be hard but im up to the challenge.
Im not sure what kind of fish i want so i dont know what kind of plants im getting. Havnt gotten that far.

1. I want alot of plants. Not a few.. alot. To do this do i need a co2 system? Why? And how much?
2. Im not rich. Iv seen homemade co2 systems made with a 2l bottle and yeast and stuff. Anybody use this? Can you tell me a little.
3. My other tank is gravel with a ugf i have to syphon. I know i cant use a ugf in sand but how do i clean the sand? And how much of a pain is this gonna be with a bunch of plants?
Thank you any help is great. I wanna turn this 30g into something i wanna look at.

I just recently tore down my 29 that had sand only in it with live plants. They did fine in the sand only, but all I had in there was wisteria and a fern. I would suggest doing a layer of potting soil and cap it with sand. That is how my 75 is set up and the plants grow like crazy. As far as your DIY co2 goes, you should be fine with it in a 30 gallon. I do not have a co2 on my tank, but it can't hurt anything. As long as your co2 levels are okay and your PH is stable then you will be fine. A tank your size might require 2 DIY co2 systems though.

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75 Gallon Planted

Thats a good idea but the sand i want is white. Could you seperate the soil and sand with something so they dont mix and look all crappy?

Is your lighting suitable for a planted tank? Most important aspect.

There is nothing that I know of that will keep them separate and still allow the plants to get to the soil. There is one thing that you can do that I failed to do when I started my tank which is put your dirt in and then cap it with enough sand so that you can skim off any dirt/crap that accumulates on top of it with a net. Then you can just add more sand. Also, when you add the water to the tank DO NOT pour it directly on the sand/dirt mixture or it will make a huge mess. Set a bowl or plate in the tank and pour the water slowly on to that.

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75 Gallon Planted

Consider that if you stuff your tank with enough plants, you won't really see the sand much at all. I'm going to share a tiny bit of wisdom that I've accumulated with using sand as a substrate with plants in a 29 gallon tank:

So I used playground sand. The first bag of sand I got was just fine. Inert and all that. The second bag of sand seemed to have limestone in it. :( So I had to toss it. The kind I got was just regular old playground sand, standard brown with different size grain. The main concern with it is that your sand will compact and be difficult for the roots of the plants to tunnel through, and also that bacteria will form pockets of poison gas in your sand and then it will explode into your tank and kill everything. I solved that by getting malaysian trumpet snails and dropping them into the tank. They dig through the substrate and eat stuff, leaving behind snail poop. yum!

Plants seemed to do just fine (until I got a pleco...) and I was having to dig out plants and replant them or chop them back once a month. I had wisteria and stem plants, with java fern, moss and a couple anubias and a dwarf red lily. I didn't do CO2 until I started getting tired of holes in leaves and wanted to try more complicated plants. I did the DIY CO2 thing, with coke bottles and yeast and sugar. I got a diffuser at a local fish store and some airline tubing and a backflow regulator... worked pretty well I think. I didn't really notice much of a difference, though, with my plants.

ah - I had a 32" compact fluorescent Coralife fixture over the tank, and just a hang over back filter and a 200w heater, kept at 75 degrees.

As far as siphoning off fish poop... I had 5 female bettas, a male sunset gourami and a small handful of Otos in there. the poop was small and ended up getting buried in the sand due to the snails' burrowing, which just fed the plants. Every once in a while, I'd dig up most of the stem plants and wisteria and siphon off the little brown debris that gathers in the dead spots. Then replant.

heh, I kinda miss that tank. It seemed so simple.

Good luck with what you're doing... my original substrate was white gravel, and it didn't stay white - it actually started growing blue green algae for some reason. eventually I just got rid of it and have stayed away from white substrates ever since. I don't know if it was the color or what, but I haven't really had that problem with black or neutral colored substrates.

Sand: Pool Filter Sand.. sieved to a consistent size of .45 - .55 mm. Prevents compaction like playground sand.. $10.00 for 50 lbs which can do a 55G to a depth of 2 inches.
Plants: I grow vals, sags, crypts, swords, java fern, and various stem plants WITHOUT CO2. I'm one of the few that do not believe in CO2. I consider it Steroids. Proper lighting, substrate and number of fish SHOULD and CAN accomplish all ya need.

Lighting: I find it best at a minimum of 1.5 watts per gallon but IMHO opinion the Kelvins of the bulbs should be above 6,000 (mine are 6,700). 1/3 the price at lowes or HD versus the pet store.

Soil. I've done a few tanks in that manner (Diane Walstad method.. google her)... The plants kicked butt but if ya had to relocate them, the sand cap was defeated.

Good luck and keep us posted. bill in va

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12 Tanks, 900 gallons. Discus/Angels/Malawi/Lake Victorias. Just added a 135 & 2 - 29's..