Hello, I have my heart set on a 180 litre aquarium which I am currently saving up for. This is my first tank in over 10 years so I class myself as a complete novice. I would really like a quite densely planted tank with a few schools of small fish, neons, zebra danios and a few small catfish. What would be the best substrate for me to use in your opinons please?
I'd like to set the tank up as best I can so I wont have to do any major changes to it in the future. Many thanks.
Jim.

"The best" is what works for you and your budget. There are many options out there. If I was just starting a new tank today, it would either have eco-complete or something like bailey's better bottom. Eco is one of the easiest to work with that I have ever used. Doesn't require rinsing, soaking, nothing...just dump right in and you're set. If you ever decided to move stuff around...nothing is disturbed and will still look the same. Petco usually has it online for about $15 and free shipping if you spend like $45-60. Not sure if it is going on now or not...their sale.

The sale is definitely going on right now because I just took advantage of it.

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I would go with this substrate, and top/line with Eco-Complete:

Greater Washington Aquatic Plant Association Mineralized Soil Substrate

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Officially fishless until after the move....tune in later for details!

Thanks for the replies. Eco complete sounds great, the cheapest I can find it for in the UK is £20 for a 20lb bag. I'm just wondering how many bags I would need for a tank measuring 36 x 14 Inches, is there a way to work it out please?
I like the sound of the mineralised soil substrate too

I believe you have a 30 gallon tank? I'm using one bag for my ten gallon, so I think two will be fine for yours. You want around 3" (7.6 cm) of substrate if you're gonna be using rooted plants.

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That's great, thank you once again.

Have a read here Beaslbob method?

I think you'll need at least 3 bags.

Agreed,three bags should do it.Its a great substrate,I love the look of it myself.

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Just get eco complete from petco.com and make sure u get free shipping. If you plan on having a lot of plants and setting up a nice planted tank you shouldnt cheap out. I dont know what ur budget is but if you can spring for it do it.

I quite agree on the not cheaping out bit, I've not bought a tank yet but am saving up. I want what will work best for the plants and fish, I don't want to set a tank up and then have to change everything at more expense because I've opted for an inferior substrate etc. If what works best costs a bit more then it'll just take a bit longer to set my tank up. I don't think we have Petco in the UK but I can certainly get eco complete, it's just at twice the price than it is in Petco. Not to worry.

Inn all of my planted tanks I use ADA Aqua soil. It not only looks the most natural but also helps stabilize water parameters and provides a very nutritious media for plants to be housed in.