Ok to use dirt under gravel as substrate?

[Bettabutterfly]

I have been hearing if a lot of people who put a base of soil in their aquarium under the gravel to help give plants nutrients. Is this safe if you are planning on later adding fish? Or does it not effect water chemistry that much?

 

[spiketooth]

I use ada soil with sand and gravel over it. It also gives more for the plant to anchor too. It is safe for fish

 

[Kalel]

I have read that you can use soil, but it has to be organic soil ( MiricleGrow Organic Choice, Potting Mix) is a good choice I have read. When using them you have to cover it with gravel or sand at least 1inch thick.

 

[Grand1011]

I'm using miracle gro organic potting mix in my tank and its great. It's a bit messy at first but with frequent changes it clears up. You want to do 1 part soil and 1 part gravel, maybe a little more gravel because over time the dirt rises up. Saturate the dirt on the bottom of the tank and pull in about a half an inch from the side. Then cover with gravel. Fill about two inches with water and start planting ( I waited till after the tank was done to plant because I didn't have plants at the time and it gets very messy this way, but it can be done). Then full with water, and do a full drain. Then refill again ( If its still a mess, repeat draining and refilling until it looks ok). It will leak tannins for a while but that is safe for fish and with normal water changes, turns out to be very efficient. Also a good idea would be to sift the dirt first to get some of the wood chips out, but they could be picked out by hand if you don't have a sifter.

 

[Rivercats]

When dirting a tank any brand of Organic Potting Soil will work. I use Just Natural Organic Potting Soil from Lowes. Many use Miracle Grow Organic Potting Soil but you can use what you can find in your area. Also you don't have to pick out larger pieces in the soil if you don't want to. I used the soil as it came out of the bag, chuncks and all. You can sift if you want to but it's not necessary.

As for a cap you can use anything from sand, gravel, or any commercial plant substrate. I use Eco Complete as a cap for all my dirted tanks. You will have alot of excess nutrients that leach from the soil in the first few weeks along with tannins. I strongly recommend planting the tank at least 80% full, with alit of fast growing nutrient absorbing stem plants to help keep nutrients absorbed from what the soil is leaching.

Also run your lights only 6 hours a day for the first 3-4 months as this will help keep algae down.

 

[dwayne.aycock]

I did something similar with Amazonia soil with Eco Complete as a cap. My Amazon soil came like ceramic tiles, but after 3-4 days it went back to normal. This gave the Eco Complete time to settle, as well as affording me time to add my stem plants. I did 25% fill of water and planted most of my plants. 3 days later I went to 50% water fill and so on and so on. After about 10 days my tank was settled and I started my W/C to remove amonia and other things that build up. 30 days later I added Discus. With discipline I used from Rivercats..things are fine.
My Coach knows best!!!!