i'm planning on capping it, i want the water to be clear, i don't want it looking like the mississippi lol. I have been reading that capping with sand can be bad as it compresses and creats an anarobic environment and is bad for plant roots. i love sand and would rather cap with sand if i can. also i'm kinda wondering, is there a lifespan to the soil? i know the plants will eventually deplete the nutriants in the soil, so would u recondition it with root tabs or replace it after so long? i have yet to find a video, or artical that relates to that. also from everything that i have noticed it's a minimum of 1 inch of soil and a cap of 1 inch of stone. what are your experiences with depth and how well does it work for u? i ask that cause i kinda want to aquascape it a bit and want to know how thin i can go and still be able to have solidly rooted plants.