bad dirt?

[Demonknight]

ok its potting soil, I bought two bags of it for about 3 bucks each for 20lbs bags, didn't read the ingredients until the next day and I see aged pine listed. Now the one I had opened is completely broke down to "dirt" status (no twigs or such that I could find) so would this still be safe for sub-strat in my tank?..or should I just go get something else?

 

[Demonknight]

new question, used the dirt I bought after reading the label of miracle grow which only stated that it used "regional forest products" since everything around here is pine/cedar. with no filters in use how long should it take to clear up?..its not the worst I've seen just a cloudy brown/tan color atm and has only been up 2 days, maybe 3.

I did build a custom ugf for it, but need to buy a set of powerheads to use it, I also hooked up my hang on tank filter to my 10 and let it run for 3 days and just moved it over to the 125 along with a few plant starts in the hope of "seeding" the big guy.

 

[43Gallons]

I also use dirt in my tank, but it's a mix of clay and unfertilized potting soil. I keep an inch of it underneath my pebble substrate, so it doesn't cloud very much. I would suggest several PWCs. Mine took about a week to settle out to crystal clear water.

 

[mfdrookie516]

I'm not quite sure how you plan on using a UGF? If anything, that's going to cause problems if it will even work? My dirt cleared up within a few days. What do you have covering it?

 

[Demonknight]

oh sorry...I have dirt on each end covered with pea gravel with the ugf in the middle with only the pea gravel on it..the power heads will be at one end of the tank to create a "stream" like effect with a weakish current, I had a drawing from another guys setup that is what I was going for..i'll have to try and find it again

 

[mfdrookie516]

Hmm... sounds interesting for sure. I'm not real sure how well thats going to work out for you, and I'm assuming you know the 'risks' of using a UGF (all the crud getting sucked down and accumulating)? Personally, I'd skip that and go with power filters. But, its your choice. I'm interested regardless

 

[Demonknight]

River-Tank Manifold Design. - Seriously Fish this is where I got part of my idea, but instead of sponges at the one end i "made" a ugf by crossing the pvc tubes back and forth, and drilling a lot of small holes...its more for making a current than actually doing the filtering. A pseudo-Walstad Natural Planted Tank is the idea in this mixed up mess of mine *LOL* I wish I hadn't got carried away and stopped to take a photo before adding the pea gravel but I to wanting to see it done.

 

[Demonknight]

FINALLY getting the water cleaned up to where I can see into the tank...question on lights (again), setup is 2 96w [FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]10000K/Deep Blue[/FONT](compact [FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]fluorescent[/FONT]) and 2 T8 36watt (normal household type bulbs)..is this enough for a 125gallon tank with med light plants? seems kind of meh to me atm, but then I've had one of those 96watt ones on my 10g (yes they over hung the tank on each end by at least 6 inches) and over cooked my java fern... I plan on getting straight up 10K bulbs soon but not sure thats really going to do much since its already got a 10K on it, just less blue tint to it.