Viewing post #2040012 by CrazedHoosier

Gina1960 said:In my research with builds that I did before I did mine, I learned that you need to either do the aliflor layer on the bottom for filtration/drainage/humidity or a false bottom made of a material called egg crate which is a plastic grid of squares. I chose the aliflor layer because its hard to disguise the egg crate. You put a layer of that, then a couple of sheets of screen or landscape cloth, then you put your planting media on top. That is what you actually plant the plants in. I use a mix I have used for plants in the greenhouse for years. This photo is a small example of the depth you need. My 75 gallon (shown here) has a depth from the bottom of the glass floor to the top surface layer of the planting media of about 6-7 inches total. In my 20 gallon its about 3 inches. The 75 gallon is deeper because I needed a water reservoir under the planting medium to run water pumps for a water feature. You would not need it so deep. The 20 gal does not have a water feature so that sort of water reservoir was unnecessary

This is so intricate! I'm guessing my planting media depth won't be able to be huge, as the tank itself is only about 11 inches tall. I'm still trying to decide what to do, as I also have a spare 40 gallon breeder, a 20 gallon long, and possibly a 15 gallon. The width of my 5 gallon is just 6 inches, so one young rabbits foot fern would fill the entire width of the enclosure.