Need Help On Tank Soil

[crago1990]

Hello everyone, ive been interested in having a proper planted tank for a long time now and i now think its time to start planning it. I have live plants in my tank at the mo (java fern, swords and vallis think thats what its called) they survive and grew well at the start but after a while they dont grow as much anymore. Ive had them for about 6 months now and i want them to really crack on and make the tank look good. Anyway im firstly stuck on what soil to use. im going to put aquarium gravel on top of it but i need to know where to buy the soil and what brand is best? i dont what to buy the wrong thing and kill my fish. What people fav brand of soil to use? im guessing i cant dig some out of my garden or go buy some normal soil you would use to plant your garden plants? i dont want co2 or anything like that i like low tech and low tech plants but really would like some soil to help. understand putting clumps of clay in the soil helps aswell? any idea where and how much that is?

Thank you

 

[crago1990]

anyone??

 

[ian]

look at that you posted exactly 24 hours apart! That must take some skill. Only joking.

It's not always a good idea to use soil from the garden in a home aquarium, you just don't know whats been on the soil in the garden. People like Diana Walstad use John Innes number 3 compost, that can be bought from any garden center, with great effect, however this kind of tank also uses other things to go along side.

read here

http/theaquariumwiki.com/Walstad_method

then there's the proper aquarium soils, these are a little (actually a lot) more expensive than the John Innes. These soils are very good IMO, these range from ADA Amazonia to Columbo flora base, i have personally used the latter, as have a few members on here. They are having great results with it.

http/www.adgshop.com/Aqua_Soil_Amazonia_p/104-021.htm

and

http/www.aquaessentials.co.uk/colombo-flora-base-black-10-litres-p-4595.html?zenid=eb476924542d70fb21a1b29ca354e447

obviously you'd pay a little more for the ADA stuff for the name, but they are both very good.

 

[crago1990]

Cheers for the reply. Im liking the sound of this John Innes #3 compost idea. Do i need to add a layer of gravel on top of that? Also should i add in little clumps of clay to the compost?

 

[ian]

yes, it will need capping, you also shouldn't need to do anything like adding clay. The problem comes when /if you decided to move the plants around, they stuff can cloud the water. But thats no biggie if you just let it settle.

let us know how you get on!

 

[crago1990]

nice one cheers im hoping to buy some compost tomorrow on my day off. ill post again soon with updates

 

[KkAaNnEe]

Just make sure you get a good layer of gravel on it

 

[crago1990]

yesterday i brought that john innes number 3. the package its in is different to what i found online and saw people use on youtube. Hope it will be ok. going to empty my tank and start it bit later

 

[KkAaNnEe]

Im pretty sure the package wont matter, john innes is just whats inside

 

[crago1990]

all done! i now have natural looking gravel on top of the compost and looks so much better then sand. neva want the hassle of sand again wasnt easy getting it all out lol. plants dont look great at the mo hopefully there start growing and looking better now with the compost. would take a picture but my camera is out of batt so need to charge it up. any ideas how long it takes to show the compost is working and my plants start looking better?

 

[KkAaNnEe]

Well, I dont use compost, but i have recently added root tabs, it took about a week to two weeks for me to noticed the growth. Best to take a photo

 

[crago1990]

Turned on my tank lights today after dirting my tank yesterday and my fish are still alive so that was a good start! then i inspected my plants and im 100% sure that my valias have grown! my swords, java fern and anubis seem to be the same but still early days. the plant growth mite be down to the massive water change i guess maybe? but i like to fink its because of them now being in dirt. do have a queston tho. surely at some point all the nuitraints in the soil will be used up and then the soil will become pointless? is that true and does that mean every so often you have to dirt the tank again?

 

[KkAaNnEe]

Its correct that the nutrients do get used up, but I mean not everyone keep tanks going for years and years in the same way. I certainly dont, lol. You never know where you'll be in a years time..

It will be fine for a year or so, but make sure they plants you have are the ones you want as you will probably see them slow down after 6 months/ish. The vallis will grow quickest, the others are pretty slow growers...

 

[crago1990]

well its been over a week since i have done it now, and ive seen a bit more of a growth in my vaills then usual and this morning noticed my sowrd is starting new growth and i added some water sprite and thats shot off. My amazon frogbit aint doing the best but thinks its due to lighting and i got quite a strong flow in my tank and read they dont do well in stong flow so mite be why. just liked the look of it and wanted a floating plant. but all in all im glad ive added the dirt not looking forward to taking it all out in 6 months to a year tho lol

 

[RadaR]

When Frogbit fails it's usually down to lack of nutrients or that it's stressed from being moved from another tank. Luckily it can get enough light and CO2 because it's at the surface of the water. There's a chance that the nutrient content in the water column is low. I wouldn't have thought it to be flow but you could try lower your spray bar or filter outlet. DOnt decrease the flow though.