I am planning on setting up a planted fresh tank. My freshwater experience is limited. I have five years in saltwater(55,75, 180, 210, 500 in the works). I have read that freshwater is easier than salt, so I believe I am ready to dive in. I have a 30 gallon long tank that I used to use as a sump, using some old power compacts from a nem tank before the halide upgrade. I am planning on settin this up as a planted freshwater with tetras and a couple of rams and maybe a pleco after a few months. I was planning on using pea gravel for substrate but I would like ya'lls opinions as ya'll know much more than me on this issue. If pea gravel is a no go what would you recommend(money is no issue, girlfriend wants it bad).
Thanks,
Jordan

Substate in a planted tank should be carfully considered when starting up. Often folks go with a cheap option only to later find out it was a mistake (me included).

Forget the pea gravel and go with a nutrient rich, specialized aquatic substrate. Your options come down to the 3 more popular choices:

- Flourite
- Eco-Complete
- ADA aquasoil

Do a little reseach on those 3 to find what suits you better. But i can tell you, right off the bat, ADA aquasoil seems to be the way to go. Once settled the results pretty much speak for themselves.

Good luck and welcome to the world of planted tanks!

JP

Hello and welcome to the forum. As you can see, I am a new member of the forum, but by far, not new to the hobby of raising fish. Salt tanks are by far a great way to enjoy aquatic life. Fresh water tanks were mostly part of a marine hobbiest collection, due to the need of raising feeder fish.
Fresh water tanks can be a real challenge compaired to marine tanks. But both environments are of equal needs to be happy with the results. I like to experiment with different styles in my tanks, so I would be concidered as an extreamist in not going by the same route as many have followed in this hobby. So, welcome to the forum, do some reaserch, after reading this forum post for more then a few months, it is a really good place to hang out and some interesting hobbiest to learn from as well.

Maximo