Cris wrote:
The cheapest/best substate is a soil substrate with sand to cap it
off. I'm very much a newbie at soil substrates, but know someone in
my local club who is an expert. Read and ask questions in the Wet
Thumbs Forum at aquabotanic.com
http://aquabotanicwetthumb.infopop.cc/eve/ubb.x, there are several
true experts that contribute to that forum.


personally I wouldn't recommend using a soil based substrate until you
have had some experience dealing with water parameters and their
fluctuations.

The very best thing you can do to save yourself money is to join local
aquarium clubs. The only hard part, then, is to resist buying too
much (it's much harder than it sounds).

Cris

Agree whole heartedly with joining clubs, especially about spending too
much, plants grow - money generally doesn't

Kris