I am setting up a 50g paludarium. Emergent Malaysian driftwood stacked along the back to create some kind of embankment.I do intend to place about an inch of pre soaked peat moss beneath whatever substrate. My question is this, in your experience, is it better to go with soilmaster select, or a layer of flourite capped with profile? (and possibly white sand)


Thank you!

A friend who is a landscaper was over at my house yesterday, while discussing what I was doing with my tanks I commented on the SMS and how it was supposed to be so great, and that I was having problems deciding what to do.. Just to make my life even more difficult, he had an extra bag of this at his storage space. He gave it to me for free, and I'm wondering if it has any application whatsoever in aquaria.

What was handed to me was a 50 lbs bag of Soilmaster red, this isnt the select and from what he told me its the same stuff, just the gravel is a bit larger then the SMS

So is this usable, or should I hand it back?

First capping anything with sand IME, not good. The sand will drift down over time, leaving it messy looking.

Now, I have no experience with soilmaster. If it is the same type of fired clay substance it will work. However, my personal taste has never been for large substrate.