To Dirt or Not to Dirt...

[brunettebaby4571]

...That is the question! lol I have been reading everything I can find on dirting a tank but I am just trying to find out the pros and cons of it and if its actually worth it and if it will even make a difference to my plants. So if you have any thoughts or experience with it let me know what you think! Thank you!

 

[brunettebaby4571]

Oh and also if you have any thoughts on adding clay to it. Also what type of dirt should I buy? Would it be possible to use dirt from my yard? Thank you! (Sorry for all the questions...I am bad about that lol)

 

[Reygan2]

Oh and also if you have any thoughts on adding clay to it. Also what type of dirt should I buy? Would it be possible to use dirt from my yard? Thank you! (Sorry for all the questions...I am bad about that lol)

So far I'm really not thrilled about the fact that I choose to dirt my 40b. I wanted to try it, and it's been a few months, but I'm not happy with it. I used Miracle Grow Organic Potting Mix topped with Eco Complete. It's messy, you can forget about rearranging anything, and I'm not convinced of the advantages over some of the other subs. Just my 2 cents.

 

[ZHiTcH41]

Dirt it!
Here's my tank

 

[bud29]

I personally would dirt it. However, just with any substrate, dirt does not possess magical powers to make plants grow regardless of light, fertilization, co2, etc. And, as reygan pointed out, it is nearly impossible NOT to make a mess in a dirted tank when moving plants around. However, I think that given the same amount of lighting, ferts, co2, etc., the plants in the dirted tank would be a bit healthier.

 

[ztigris]

I like my dirt for the most part.
Cons: high nutrient more algae till it balances.
Wish I would have done a dark cap and hidden the dirt on the edges with the cap.
Pros: high nutrient my root feeders once established love it.
I do rearange everything, except the swords, with no problem. And often cause I'm never happy.
Much cheaper then fancy substrates and lasts longer. Add that I paid $6 for 40lbs for my cap at the quarry which was more then I needed, it saved $$ for plants.

 

[ztigris]

I used organic soil from lowes and had enough to replant my house plants. Clay frim Michaels for 15 added to it as well for iron. But I don't think I added enough.

 

[ZHiTcH41]

I use sand to cap.

When it comes to removing swords, just wiggle it back and forth than pull-up slowly until some roots are exposed. Then use scissors an cut roots under substrate! Barley any mess, especially if you use sand.

 

[ztigris]

I use sand to cap.

When it comes to removing swords, just wiggle it back and forth than pull-up slowly until some roots are exposed. Then use scissors an cut roots under substrate! Barley any mess, especially if you use sand.

Good idea! I think I planted two to close but have been hesitant about moving cause they are so tight in the root when I tried

 

[JakeVS]

I say it depends on if you will be carpeting the tank or not! I dirted my tank with very little plant experience, and absolutely hated it at first. Mainly because I was moving my sword and crypts around far too much before I finally became happy with it. I think clay would be a good idea, not only for the iron, but because of its heavy and gooey properties it may help hold the soil down. Once my carpet was fully established the mess became virtually non-existent, having the root system of my plants cover the entire floor of the tank seems to hold the soil and Eco-complete in place. I've managed to have a reasonably high light tank dosing only flourish and excel without any major algae issues! (2x24w 6700k over a 20g long)





But overall... Go dirt!

 

[jetajockey]

It's a toss up. If you go dirt look into mineralized topsoil. Don't do dirt if you foresee yourself changing your scape around. And you have to be extra careful refilling the tank, one slip up can ruin your day.

 

[ztigris]

And you have to be extra careful refilling the tank, one slip up can ruin your day.

How would that be if it's capped? Just curious since I've not experienced any issues so far and I'm not always good about making sure my hand is under the water.

 

[jetajockey]

A good deep cap is important, in my 120 I kept a 2" oildri cap so the dirt rarely, if ever, came up. In a 29 I only did a 1" sand cap. It worked fine although one day months later I forgot to be careful refilling and I came back to a tank of mud.

My overall feelings are that soil is a great diy approach, and it's much cheaper than shelf substrates. However it can be a lot more work and is not good for someone who likes to rearrange things.

 

[Reygan2]

A good deep cap is important, in my 120 I kept a 2" oildri cap so the dirt rarely, if ever, came up. In a 29 I only did a 1" sand cap. It worked fine although one day months later I forgot to be careful refilling and I came back to a tank of mud.

My overall feelings are that soil is a great diy approach, and it's much cheaper than shelf substrates. However it can be a lot more work and is not good for someone who likes to rearrange things.

+1. I at least wish I'd done mineralized.

 

[Rivercats]

I have both dirted and non-dirted tanks. My largest dirted is my 220g and have never had any issues when rescaping and I have had to remove some pretty large crypts and swords. If done carefully you make a minimal mess. Personally I prefer my dirted tanks over my non-dirted.

 

[brunettebaby4571]

Thank you guys for all the input! I am almost positive I am going to dirt one of my tanks. I think I am going to try it on my 40 gallon and see how I like it. Its not like its permanent right? I do have a problem about rearranging so I am going to think long and hard about how I want everything before I do it so that itll be the way I like it and not have to move anything once I have it done. I was reading about letting it soak and then drying it out and doing that a few times so thats what I will probably do. I have been looking for a good plant to do a carpet with but I am not sure what plant yet. I am thinking about dwarf sag even though it doesnt stay too small but I read that it grows quickly so I like that aspect. How much dirt would you say to use on a 40 gallon breeder? Also a lot of places online say not to put the fish back in for like a month after dirting it. What are your guys thoughts on that?

 

[brunettebaby4571]

Oh one more thing. A lot of people say that it needs poked often so that no build up of any gasses are in it. Is there truth to that? How often would you say to poke it if so?

 

[brunettebaby4571]

What exactly do you mean by mineralized top soil? Is that where you soak it and dry it out many times? Or is it something completely different?

 

[Rivercats]

Mineralized soil is the method of wetting and drying over a period of time. And you would IMO want an 1-1/2" of dirt and 1-1/2" of cap.

What is your lighting and bulbs? Reason I'm asking is you will need med-high to high light and CO2 or liquid carbon to do most carpet plants. Something not as big as dwarf sag and that can grow well even in lower light is Marsilea quadrifolia commonly called Four leaf clover.

As for fish and dirting, I did not mineralize my soil but did such a heavy planting my tank cycled very quickly so I was able to add my first fish in 14 days. So if you dirt and plant at least 80% of the substrate you should cycle much faster. You still can't add fish until your tank is cycled, that is no different than setting up a non-dirted tank.

I almost forgot, if you mineralize the soil you won't have gas buildup from the organic soil BUT if you just use the soil straight from the bag as I did then for around 4 weeks you will need to poke all around the substrate with something like a serving size meat fork at least 3x a day to release gas build up. Also the day after you dirt you will need to do a large WC to remove tannins that leach from the organic soil breaking down (again only if you use the soil straight from the bag) and to remove excess nutrients.

If you start your tank with some fast growing stem plants such as ambulia, anaracharis, myrio, and cabomba along with either water sprite or wisteria you will have plants that will absorb alot of excess nutrients that if not used would be food for algae. Also only run your lights for 6 hours for at least 6 weeks to help keep algae down.

 

[brunettebaby4571]

My lighting is an aquasun t5 ho with 2 39 watt bulbs one is for plants and the other is a ultra bright daylight I believe and its a 40 gallon breeder. The tank has been up and running for almost a year and a half Id say so its already cycled but I didnt know if I could put the dirt in after all the rinsing and drying and then put the fish right back in. I already have about 40-50% of the tank planted but am going to get more plants before I do all this and will probably try and wait for warmer weather as well. I have been looking at a lot of carpet plants but still unsure about which one to get that I know will actually grow in my set up so any suggestions on good easy carpet plants would be wonderful! I already have in the tank red crypt wendtii (definitely my favorite plant yet) cabomba, rotala indica (I believe) amazon sword and melon sword, red ludwigia, jungle vals, and a lot of frogbit. I know I want more plants but have no idea what yet. I want to try rotala macrandra but not sure of how it will grow but I might just try it and see how it does and I definitely want dwarf sag.