aquarium 308
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- Nov 12, 2014
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- 131
Where should I seek soil for a planted tank. Thinking that it would be best to top it all off with sand. Any suggestions.
Thanks
Thanks
Where should I seek soil for a planted tank. Thinking that it would be best to top it all off with sand. Any suggestions.
Thanks
If "aquarium 308" we're to not too off the soil with sand, would it make the tank water mucky and muddy?
Or is mud to be expected, and then settled/filtered out with some time and some filtration?
Go for the Orange bag, that's the one that I've been recommended. I have it an it works wonders!
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I got the orange bag of organic miracle grow soil. It is the fruit and vegetables blend. This is just a 10 gallon. How deep should I go with the soild and then how deep with the sand on top
1/8 of an inch is going to do absolutely nothing to keep the soil in. Your tank will turn into a muddy mess with that.I believe the soil depth should be 2 to no more than 3 inches, and then a light (thin) layer of sand or gravel (about 1/8" I read) because the soil needs to breathe. I am about to put soil in a fish tank for the first time, myself. Just waiting for some of my supplies to show up. I went with the Fluval Plant Stratum, but heard Aqua soil is good too. Just not sure if that is a brand or a product. (Personally, I would not buy Miracle Grow anything.) I will be doing a nano Walstad-type natural planted tank which will house some Danios, shrimp, and nerite snails.
Good luck and have fun!
When I setup my dirted tank I wish I had done it differantly. I have had issues for months with hydrogen sulfide gas bubbles. The steps below would are what I will try next time to minimize the issue.
1 put the soil in and put a few inches of water in the tank
2 removed all the floating debris
3 let the soil dry out in the tank
4 once the soil was dry put the stone/sand cap on
5 fill the tank with water
When I dumped the soil in, capped it with 2 inches stone I had bubbles and floating debris every day for months. With every bubble came a small puff of dirt that slightly clouded the water. I was told that wetting the soil and letting it dry again would slow the organic breakdown and minimized the clouding.
Mineralized Top Soil
How-To: Mineralized Soil Substrate, by Aaron Talbot - Library - Aquatic Plant Central
Screening out big clumps is recommended also.
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I got the orange bag of organic miracle grow soil. It is the fruit and vegetables blend. This is just a 10 gallon. How deep should I go with the soild and then how deep with the sand on top
1/8 of an inch is going to do absolutely nothing to keep the soil in. Your tank will turn into a muddy mess with that.
In my dirted tanks I shoot for about an inch of soil and then 1 to 2 inches of sand.