With all the substrate choices out there, how do you know which one will be the best for your aquarium? The following article outlines the different benefits available from most substrates on the market.

Before you choose which type of substrate you want, it's important to decide what kind of aquarium you want to keep.

By asking yourself the following questions, it will help you when choosing a substrate.

• Do I want live or artifical plants?
• Do I want a natural look for my aquarium?
• Am I going to have fish that burrow?
• Am I looking for a specific biotope? Or environment? (More explanation later in the article)

While these are certainly not the only questions, they will give you a good start in choosing the perfect substrate for your aquarium.

Gravel

There are a wide variety of gravels available, all with different colors and sizes. When choosing your gravel, it's good to choose the kind that has smooth, round corners. If you purchase sharp gravel, your fish could hurt themselves. If you want to go with live plants, the smaller the gravel, the better. This allows the roots to grow better through the gravel. While most gravel is expensive, there are some cheaper alternatives. Most landscaping stores sell gravel in bulk, however, you need to be sure that it is not going to affect the pH of your water. You can do this by doing a simple vinegar test. If you put a drop of vinegar on the rock, and it bubbles, it will raise the pH of your water. I purchased a 30 pound bag of river rock at Lowe's(Home Depot) for 3 dollars. Compared to a 5 pound bag for 5 dollars at my local fish store. Although these rocks were very large compared to aquarium gravel, it did provide a nice natural look to my aquarium.

When deciding on what color to go with, remember that darker colors will make your fish less stressed, as well as enhance their colors. Studies have shown that darker substrates actually make your fish calmer and feel more at home.

Sand

Sand can be very pleasing to the eye when you use it in your aquarium. Most sands come in white to a light brown color. Some specialty sands come in darker colors. The most important thing to remember with sand is that you need to stir it on an occassional basis. This keeps it from creating anerobic conditions, or in other words, toxic gas buildup, from occuring. Sand is generally not the best substrate to use in a planted aquarium as plants that get their nutrients from their roots have a difficult time thriving in sand.

When purchasing sand for your aquarium, it's generally a good idea to look for sand that is large in diameter, or millimeter. The bigger the sand, the less chance you have of creating a cloud in your aquarium when you move it around. Clouds of sand are not a good thing, especially when they get into your filter. The sand can burn out your motor in no time. Be sure when doing maintenance on your aquarium to turn off your filters, and then wait until the debris settle until you turn them back on.

Specialty Substrates

Specialty Substrates include many of the cichlid specific sands and gravel, as well as planted substrate such as Eco-Complete. If you are looking for a specific aquarium environment, this is the way to go. They might be more expensive, but certainly pay off in the long run.

For those who aren't blessed with high pH water, but want to keep cichlids, the cichlid specific sands and gravels are perfect. Not only do they create the natural environment cichlids are used to, but they help buffer your pH to the higher amounts african cichlids require to prosper.

For those wanting the perfect planted aquarium, you can get a great start just by choosing the right substrate. Most plants get their nutrients from their roots, so a good substrate is a must. To help your plants get all the vitamins and minerals that they need you can choose Eco-Complete Planted Aquarium substrate. This is by far the best substrate I have found for planted aquariums. Not only is it black, which makes your fish and plants look healthy and beautiful, it also helps your plants thrive and grow.

Biotopes

An aquarium with a specific 'biotope' is an aquarium that has tried to replicate the natural environment fish are in. Such as, if you wanted an african rift lake biotope, you would include plants and fish native to that area. It creates an almost identical environment. You can let your imagination run wild when trying to create different biotopes. WIth an endless amount of biotopes out there, such as central american, african, asian and many other biotopes, you can create something both personal and interesting. Instead of the pink and blue gravel with the giant octopus in the middle and fake plants, you can opt for something much more natural. Not only will the fish display their natural behavior, it can be much more pleasing to the eye, and can even provide a bit of a challenge in researching and preparing your biotope.

So, in closing, when choosing the right substrate for your aquarium, be sure to ask yourself, "What kind of aquarium am I looking for?". This will help you design the aquarium of your dreams.

I have been keeping live plants in the aquarium and pond. I found the best substrate to use is a mixture of Black Natural Gravel and Aqua-Clay. Aqua-Clay is high is nutrients and metals...perfect for plants...but its very light...so the Black natural gravel will add abit of weight.

The clay substrate really makes a difference in your plant growth. I had a lot of luck with the eco-complete substrate, even though I didn't have CO2 injection. The root growth was amazing, and it didn't get stirred up when doing water changes. It did have the tendency to compact itself though, so you needed to keep it stirred up to keep it aeriated. Other than that, though, it's really worth it's money. I've heard of people using flourite and having a lot of luck with that, but I haven't tried it yet.

I'm getting ready to set up my pond and I'm trying to find the perfect substrate to go in it. I've got to find my pump, first. Hopefully I'll have it set up on Tuesday.