Do I need special aquarium plant substrate to grow plants or could I use regular gravel?
Since your getting all the correct equipment, I definitely suggest going all the way with the good flooring. It makes a big difference, having the correct product, it’ll open up what plants you can and can’t have as some are more demanding than others and wouldn’t do well in plain gravel. What some people do is use a small container, something really short like a butter container and cut the sides down to about half an inch to an inch. Fill this with the good substrate and bury in the gravel, then you can plant your plants in these little containers and not have to spend the fortune to have the expensive substrate covering the entire flooring. Best of Luck!
