Putting Dirt In The Tank For The Plants

[jordan.m]

My dad said he read online that some people take a margarine container (see picture), put some dirt in it, and then tuck their plant's roots into the dirt.

(one of the smaller kinds)

I was wondering, do any of you do this? If you don't do it, can you think of any reasons as to why this would be a bad idea?

Thanks,
Jordan

 

[d3tained]

Hi Jordan

I get what you are saying but why exactely would you wanna do this?

I presume you not gonna leave the plant in there as its aquatic plants you are talking about right?

What i can tell you is the following.

Im my tanks I use te following:

SERA Flora Depo mixed with real dirt that comes from the local river in my area.Then cover the layer with normal gravel or sand or what ever you wanto use.

This works really great as its as close to natural you will get.

Some clarity would be nice please

 

[jordan.m]

Well, my dad said that maybe it would help because as of right now, the plant's roots have nothing to "grab onto", they're just kinda sitting there.

Does that make sense or is my dad crazy?

 

[Sammie7]

I'd suppose that would make one heck of a mess in your tank. Cloudy for days. What type/size of gravel do you have? If it is small, like the consistency of sand or about 1-3mm in size, you should be fine.

 

[nicklfire]

If your serious about coming into the aquatic world of live plants.. there's alot more to it than just sticking it into some dirt. you gotta realize depending what plants you need.. you'll need 3 main things.. nutrients... which include substrate and just adding nutrients... including trace elements.... Plus your going to need some upgraded lighting, then you gotta figure out what type of plants you have and start adding co2 to it. Taking the leap into a tropical fish tank is alot of work.. and can be very costsly... even just to start it up.. Start small.... forget the dirt (it has no nutrients in it and like the above post it's going to cloud your dirt... just not good news. Get some good substrate such as red sea flora base. I picked some up at my lfs for my 33 gallon i think i got 3 bags... for 30$ a bag. Keeps your plants... dug in and provides nutrients for about 6 months to a year. Then look at your lighting... what type do you have..... and what type of plants do you have.. what are their light requirements..... read up do your research and we'll be here...

but go for some good substrate first.
http/www.marineandreef.com/shoppro/sand_gravel3.htm

 

[ChrisC]

If your serious about coming into the aquatic world of live plants.. there's alot more to it than just sticking it into some dirt.

I wouldn't be too sure. A tank with some soil, a little bit of gravel on top of that, and some plants in there can do great sitting on a window sill (breaking three "rules" of planted tank keeping and neglecting another 3 - water changes, CO2 and ferts).

"dirt" could mean anything but DOC's that you're likely to find in compost etc are very good for plant growth so no I don't think you're dad's crazy, I'd be interested to know who he learnt that little bit of advice from.

At the risk of over-simplification, there are two types of aquarium technique known to create good plant growth. The first is the "hi-tech" setup, which includes deliberately setting up an unbalanced aquarium and using regular maintenance and cleaning to counter this. Hi-tech aquariums can look absolutely stunning. Look into "Takashi Amano" and "Nature Aquariums" for more info. They're often characterized by CO2 injection, fantastic plant growth and often a "zen" influenced minimalist look.

The second type is the "low-tech" aquarium approach as pioneered by Diana Walstad. Her book "Ecology of the Planted Aquarium" describes and justifies the approach very thoroughly and methodically. Low-Tech aquariums are charectorised by stable pH, large amounts of plants and natural fish behavior,

Chris