Advice on how to change from a gravel to substrate/soil tank

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jonatheber

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Hi, all. I currently have a 46 gallon bowfront planted tank holding about 20 live bearers with a Fluval 3.0 light and CO2 pumped in. And I currently have the plants in gravel and am feeding them with Flourish and root tabs.... In case it is relevant, my pH locally is 7.8 or so (really wish it was lower) and the water is fairly hard.

I don't want to do that any longer (tired of the look, and not happy with how the plants refuse to stay in place), and am planning on switching the gravel gradually over to a substrate/soil base so I can do some aquascaping. I could use some opinions on my preliminary plan, and answers to some questions about what to get. (Sorry, but this post might be long....)

A. Substrate - I already picked up two bags of the Caribsea Eco-planted black substrate at my LFS as it was highly recommended. Any concerns with this? I can return it if need be.

B. Soil - I am planning on putting the soil on top of the substrate (eco-complete or something else). If this isn't right, let me know.
  1. Amount - I was told I should have about 2" depth in the front (NOT including the substrate), as I plan on doing a carpet of some sort. It should slope up to about 6" of depth in the back. Is that right? Too much dirt? Not enough?
  2. What soil??? - I got advice that the best aquarium soil to put on top of the substrate is ADA Aqua Soil Ver 2 (9L) that is "Amazonia". Another suggestion was Fluval Plant and Shrimp Stratum but I was told the ADA was better. If something else is better, what are other options? I will probably buy it from Amazon or somewhere else on line - it doesn't seem like the LFS or chains near me carry soil. Amazon does have a 9L bag (no idea how much dirt that actually is) and some other options including one called Landen which is 40 lbs for $130.
  3. Process - I have also gotten guidance that the dirt will cause ammonia problems when I put it in an existing tank, so I am planning to make use of my currently empty 10gallon quarantine tank. I figure I can put bags of the dirt in there, cycle the tank to get rid of the ammonia in the soil and then put it in the main tank a section at a time, basically doing the main tank in phases and transplanting the current plants into the new soil as I get to that part, removing the gravel from that section at the same time. I don't have a practical way to cycle THAT much dirt all at once in the 10g and can't remove all the fish to that tiny tank for the time it would take to cycle the main aquarium
C. Additives - I was told that a good way to start growing the right bacteria in the soil was to add Bacter AE to the tank. Is that a good idea? Is there something better to use instead? Should I do it while cycling the dirt in the 10g tank or after I put it in the main tank some time from now?

Thanks for reading this. Any help would be MUCH appreciated.
 
A. Substrate - I already picked up two bags of the Caribsea Eco-planted black substrate at my LFS as it was highly recommended. Any concerns with this? I can return it if need be.

If you can return it, I would. I had a tank with Flourite which is basically the same thing, for two years, and it was a waste of money. Also, some fish cannot be over this, substrate fish like cories and loaches. And you still need touse the fertilizer with either product, so I can't see any value.

B. Soil - I am planning on putting the soil on top of the substrate (eco-complete or something else). If this isn't right, let me know.

If by "soil" you mean actual dirt, don't. It would have to be the bottom and capped with sand or gravel, and over time it will mix, fish will dig into it. And again there really is no value over an inert sand or fine gravel substrate.

Ammonia is an issue. Most sources suggest a dry start, and no fish for up to six months to allow for this.
 
If you can return it, I would. I had a tank with Flourite which is basically the same thing, for two years, and it was a waste of money. Also, some fish cannot be over this, substrate fish like cories and loaches. And you still need touse the fertilizer with either product, so I can't see any value.



If by "soil" you mean actual dirt, don't. It would have to be the bottom and capped with sand or gravel, and over time it will mix, fish will dig into it. And again there really is no value over an inert sand or fine gravel substrate.

Ammonia is an issue. Most sources suggest a dry start, and no fish for up to six months to allow for this.
Will the plants root well in sand? Also, do I need to use root tabs in sand (assuming yes).

I really want to do a carpet so I i need dirt instead of something inert (eco-complete, sand, etc). Is there any value to putting the dirt on top of (shudder, I suppose) the eco complete? I was thinking (maybe incorrectly) that the extra space between the bigger material under the dirt would be better to allow for oxygen circulation, bacteria to grow, etc, and that I could put the few inches of dirt on top of that more inert stuff. Is that wrong? I would do something like an inch of the eco complete and then several inches of the dirt. Can't imagine the eco-complete would migrate through THAT much dirt on top.
 
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Will the plants root well in sand? Also, do I need to use root tabs in sand (assuming yes).

I really want to do a carpet so I i need dirt instead of something inert (eco-complete, sand, etc). Is there any value to putting the dirt on top of (shudder, I suppose) the eco complete? I was thinking (maybe incorrectly) that the extra space between the bigger material under the dirt would be better to allow for oxygen circulation, bacteria to grow, etc, and that I could put the few inches of dirt on top of that more inert stuff. Is that wrong? I would do something like an inch of the eco complete and then several inches of the dirt. Can't imagine the eco-complete would migrate through THAT much dirt on top.

I don't understand why you think you need dirt. Plants will root in inert sand as well as anything. And you cannot have dirt as the top layer, it would be forever stirred up and a mess.
 
I don't understand why you think you need dirt. Plants will root in inert sand as well as anything. And you cannot have dirt as the top layer, it would be forever stirred up and a mess.
Maybe I don't - I am new to anything that isn't big gravel. I sort of figured that the ADA/Landen/etc soil would come with nutrients included that would help the plants get established and spread for a while. By the time the soil aged and a carpet covered everything, I'd think they'd be established and then I'd have to do some fertilizing (which I'd need to do from the beginning if I used something inert like sand from the beginning. I also expected (maybe incorrectly) that the aquarium soil once covered by carpet wouldn't get stirred up much if at all.
 

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