[Oqsy]

playsand or simlilarly fine grained sands, especially over peat. no flow through substrate + high organics = really really yucky substrate, especially if you don't churn the top layer regularly. I ended up with a room that smelled like rotten eggs from this combination. if going with playsand, throw quite a bit of larger gravel in there to let oxygen into the mix... otherwise you're dealing with a time bomb. also, play sand + BGA = REALLY hard to deal with. whole pieces of BGA with big chunks of sand vacuum out clumped together like another interesting substrate choice: kitty litter. i've never used kitty litter, but have read so many horror stories that I stayed away from that path... for now. Also would like to give a less than satisfactory review for profile/turface/etc. while it does have a higher CEC than pretty much anything else used in aquariums, it is very very light, and allows even the least destructive fish too many opportunities for rescaping the tank themselves. currently using flourite in a 29 and black t-grade colorquartz in a 20H with no complaints about either... obviously each has benefits and drawbacks, but plants are doing well in both, and both are relatively mess free.

Oqsy