dirting an established tank question?

[buzzkiller]

So I really want to put dirt into my 55 but I'm very concerned that the possible ammonia spike will kill my fish. The questions I have is this. If dirt needs time to leach ammonia under water, why can't I just put it in a bucket of water for a month. I would change the water daily to help it leach. Then after that I could put it in my tank cap it and bam no ammonia spikes in my tank! This seems like common sense to me but I haven't heard of anyone doing this. Tell me what you guys think of this idea.

 

[Mebbid]

Dirt + water = mud. Its just a big huge mess and the dirt needs to be relatively dry when going into the tank for the first time.

In a cycled tank i honestly wouldnt worry about ammonia spikes. You could definitely get some excess nitrates though. Just test once or twice a day after the switch for a week or two and you will be fine.

 

[Hooked on Fish]

I set up a planted tank with a dirt substrate about four months back. I didn't have any problems with ammonia spikes but I was doing water 50% water changes a couple of time a week for the first two or three weeks. Before you decide to try a dirt substrate I highly recommend that you read Ecology of the Planted Aquarium by Diana Walstad.

I should mention that my situation was a bit different to yours as I was starting with a brand new set up. That said I did add 8 juvenile Melanotaenia Lacustris into it after the first week without any problems. The only real issue I had in the first 8 weeks or so was a brown slime algae and clouding of the water. This I fixed by introducing an Albino Bristlenose Pleco for the slime. To fix the clouding I added a water clarification product (flocculant) and some in-tank filtration.

 

[rockyofhockey]

Dirt + water = mud. Its just a big huge mess and the dirt needs to be relatively dry when going into the tank for the first time.

In a cycled tank i honestly wouldnt worry about ammonia spikes. You could definitely get some excess nitrates though. Just test once or twice a day after the switch for a week or two and you will be fine.

First u want to put dry dirt it in. Then u want to wet it just a little. After, cap it with The substrate of your liking. Put paper towel across the tank from side to side so the water doesn't trash the sand and dirt and make a huge mess.


Rockyofhockey _/.\_

 

[buzzkiller]

Okay thanks for the advise I do have another quick question. How many quarts of dirt should I buy for my 55. My lowes has 32 quart bags in stock and I am wondering how many I'm going to need to buy.

 

[rockyofhockey]

Okay thanks for the advise I do have another quick question. How many quarts of dirt should I buy for my 55. My lowes has 32 quart bags in stock and I am wondering how many I'm going to need to buy.

U only need an inch at the most. With dirt, less is the key.


Rockyofhockey _/.\_

 

[buzzkiller]

Ok great! And I assume an inch in a half to two inches of gravel?

 

[rockyofhockey]

1/2 to 1 inch of dirt. With 1 inch of substrate


Rockyofhockey _/.\_

 

[Hooked on Fish]

Below is a photo taken as I was adding the "dirt" to the aquarium. I did things a little differently in that I placed a layer of course river sand down first so that I could build the substrate up at the back of the tank by an inch or two. Next I added a mix consisting of about 3/4 of a 25 litre bag Miracle-Gro Organic Choice garden compost (compost with no fertilizer), some river sand and a 1 kg bag of Trill Shell grit (to help neutralize the acidification of the organic matter and for a source of CO2). In the photo you can see that I've added it in "pads" (of about an inch thick) to help keep the thickness the same across a sloping base. After that I filled in between and then topped it with about another inch of course river sand.

During the first 12 weeks or so there was a fair amount of gas bubbling up from the substrate. Its now settled down and the plants seem to be growing well.