How deep should a soil be in a planted tank?

[Barry Tetra]

As the titles says, I’m setting up new planted aquarium for TOTM hoping to enter


@seangee @Colin_T @communityfluvalroma @NCaquatics @AdoraBelle Dearheart

 

[Wills]

Which brand of soil are you going for and are you wanting to create a full aqua scape or something to compliment your community of fish?

 

[Barry Tetra]

Which brand of soil are you going for and are you wanting to create a full aqua scape or something to compliment your community of fish?

Seachem soil, I want something like the Dwalf onion which plant in the substrate.

 

[Colin_T]

Are you using an actual soil or just gravel?
Most soil substrates release huge amounts of ammonia and you can't put fish in their tanks for months.

If you want to use soil, put it in a plastic icecream container and cover it in about 6mm of dry red clay, then cover that with an inch of gravel. this should keep the ammonia and nutrients in the pot and stop it from leaching into the water.

 

[Wills]

Aquarium soils dont leach ammonia for that long usually just a couple of days maybe a week. If it is low tech garden type soil you have to cap it.

I think with Seachem Flourite you will just need to be on daily water changes for a few days if you add fish straight away - though even if you dont it is recommended to avoid early algae issues. If you've not bought the Seachem so far I would recommend checking out the Tropica Aquarium Soil - very similar products but I just prefer the Tropica brand.

In terms of depth, if you want to create an aquascape like you would see in the IAPLC or some of the You Tube channels you usually want quite a deep slope to the back with about 5-6cm at the front rising upto 20cm or so at the back. Soil does not have the same problem as sand when you have deep substrates as you dont get the dead spots.

Some people will criticise using aquarium soils as they will eventually run out of nutrients and become inert which would lead to either needing to replace it or adding root tabs. The alternative would be to use play sand and add root tabs from the start which you can still have good success with.

Wills

 

[Barry Tetra]

Just checked the LFS price, Seachem and Fluval soil are dang expensive in my country, it’s 900 baht (30$) Per 2 kg bag

I just want a substrate that look like soil and cheap, can I use this gravel instead? It’s really cheap, if yes, how deep? for plant like dwalf onion?

aquarium black glass gravel - Google Search

@Colin_T @Wills

 

[AbbeysDad]

I'm not a fan of expensive commercial aquarium substrates. As mentioned, any nutrient value is soon lost, leaving an inert substrate. As mentioned, some are notorious for intially releasing a LOT of ammonia. I'm also not a fan of 'dirt' tanks. Even if organic soil is used, capped with gravel or sand, again any nutrient value is soon lost and managing and moving rooted plants is a real nightmare.
Just my $.02...
I AM a fan of sand instead of gravel, but not a fine sand that packs too tightly. While many have success with big box store play sand, I prefer pool filter sand as it has a uniform particle size and excellent permeability. Yes, root tabs are required for rooted plants.

 

[Barry Tetra]

Yep, just bought ton of gravel, how deep should it be to look beautiful? I want to plant Anacharis and hairgrass btw @PheonixKingZ @Colin_T @NCaquatics

 

[CassCats]

Id go no more than 2 inches.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

I use an inch of organic garden soil topped by an inch of sand. Simple. My 'scapes last for years without the soil becoming depleted. The soils do leach ammonia, but at most it only lasts as long as the filter takes to cycle. I do usually wait a few weeks before adding fish, but once the plants take off it's fine.

 

[Colin_T]

Yep, just bought ton of gravel, how deep should it be to look beautiful? I want to plant Anacharis and hairgrass btw @PheonixKingZ @Colin_T @NCaquatics

Don't buy hairgrass. It is a terrestrial plant that dies underwater.

Pygmy chain swords are a better option if you want small low growing plants for the front of the tank.

-----------------
You need 2-4 inches of substrate for most aquarium plants. If you want to use a rich growing medium, then grow the plants in plastic icecream containers.

We use to grow plants in 1 or 2 litre plastic icecream containers. You put an inch of gravel in the bottom of the container, then spread a thin layer of granulated garden fertiliser over the gravel. Put a 1/4inch (6mm) thick layer of red/ orange clay over the fertiliser. Dry the clay first and crush it into a powder. Then cover that with more gravel.

You put the plants in the gravel and as they grow, their roots hit the clay and fertiliser and they take off and go nuts. The clay stops the fertiliser leaching into the water.

You can smear silicon on the outside of the buckets and stick gravel or sand to them so it is less conspicuous. Or you can let algae grow on them and the containers turn green.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

I've never tried potting my aquarium plants. My tanks are always so densely planted that I just dirt the whole bottom; pots don't make sense. But it's an interesting idea for a more thinly planted tank.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Yep, just bought ton of gravel, how deep should it be to look beautiful? I want to plant Anacharis and hairgrass btw @PheonixKingZ @Colin_T @NCaquatics

Hairgrass may have trouble growing in gravel.

I would shoot for 2 inches though.

Why not get sand? It looks much better, and I find that plants (especially Anacharis) grow better in it.

 

[Barry Tetra]

Hairgrass may have trouble growing in gravel.

I would shoot for 2 inches though.

Why not get sand? It looks much better, and I find that plants (especially Anacharis) grow better in it.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

If you just posted a YouTube video, I can not view it...