Soil Substrate?

[squidneh]

Right now my substrate is pool filter sand.  I like it and my fish like it, especially the cories, but there is the problem of poop being so visible. My gourami is a pooping machine, hours after a thorough cleaning there is poop again on the sand. 
 
My substrate isn't very thick at the moment, I would say an inch and a half maybe. I'm wondering if it would be alright to take some of this out, leaving maybe an inch or a bit less, and then add organic potting mix over it, for the sake of both aesthetics and the plants.
 
Also, does the soil need to be rinsed like sand does before putting it in the tank? Any special procedure to follow?

 

[Byron]

When using sopil in the substrate,it must be the bottom layer with a layer (1+ inches) of sand or fine gravel on top.  Otherwise, believe me, you will have a perpetual mess.  
 
Why not just replace the sand?  I use Quikrete Play Sand which is a mix (black/grey/tan/white) and you cannot see detritus.  Corys are fine with this.  Of course, if you have large fish, the excrement will always be more noticeable.
 
Byron.

 

[squidneh]

Okay thank you. Yeah, I think I will just get a different color sand like you mentioned. I like the idea of soil but I don't want to tear down the tank entirely. I have to mostly take it apart to plant it, but at least I won't have to remove all of the water and substrate. I will just put the new sand on top of the old because I need it to be thicker anyways, it hardly even is visible above the black trim of the tank.

 

[Byron]

Okay thank you. Yeah, I think I will just get a different color sand like you mentioned. I like the idea of soil but I don't want to tear down the tank entirely. I have to mostly take it apart to plant it, but at least I won't have to remove all of the water and substrate. I will just put the new sand on top of the old because I need it to be thicker anyways, it hardly even is visible above the black trim of the tank.

I would suggest you replace the sand completely.  When different colours of sand are used like you are intending, they will tend to mix and that can look terrible.  There are other issues with adding more substrate on top too that I won't get bogged down with.
 
I have changed all my substrates in seven tanks over the past 2-3 years, going from fine gravel to play sand.  It is worth the effort.
 
Byron.