Starting a soil tank

[Bcuzimbatman]

Wanted to know of this potting soil would be ok for a planted tank

 

[fort384]

Can't see what the phosphate number there is in the pic... that is important.

 

[Bcuzimbatman]

It says 0.05% I also noticed in the description it mentioned something about organic fertilizer

 

[fort384]

It should work fine. What are you planning to cap it with?

 

[jetajockey]

Since it has ammonia in it, albeit a small amount, I'd still let the tank run without fish or inverts for a few weeks or until you aren't getting an ammonia reading.

 

[Bcuzimbatman]

I don't plan on putting fish in for a while

 

[Bcuzimbatman]

Ended up using the soil mixed with some Eco complete and aquarium sand I had left over. I had to mix it and make it dense because particles of it kept floating to the top. It also had a lot of styrofoam pieces in it that were a pain to fish out. Substrate doesn't really look aesthetically pleasing but I hope the soil will do the job for a DSM of Dwarf hair grass I planted. I had some of it left over as well as some telanthera plants which I also put in the DSM. Any advice on what to fertilize with?

 

[Rivercats]

Just in case you want to dirt another tank in the future, always look for organic potting "soil". When a bag says organic potting "mix" it usually has additives, like your styroform pieces, that you don't want for an aquarium. Sorry I didn't catch this earlier to sadve you a mess.

 

[Bcuzimbatman]

It won't make any difference other than that tho right? It will work fine for my DSM without any issues?

 

[jetajockey]

Did you cap it with anything?

 

[Rivercats]

It should be alright but in mixes there can just be too many different things in it. With organic soil you get all organic ingredients, no extras. And as jetajockey asked, did you cap it. You have to cap your dirt of you will continue to get a mess whenever you plant, do WC's or anything. It should be capped with the Eco, sand, or whatever you wanted to use. When dirting a tank you put your dirt first, then your cap which should be about
1-1/2 inches so any loaches or others can't dig down to your soil. It also makes planting easier as your planting in your capped layer and not your dirt.

 

[Bcuzimbatman]

I mixed the soil in with Eco complete to make it like a mud. And then capped it all with aquarium sand but idk if I did it enough as 1 in