Tips On The Use Of Soil For Non Co2, Co2 And Excel Based Dosing, It&#3

[zig]

Yep, you got it, a lot less messy!!!
And the tank settles in faster.

When the soil gets depleted, you use the "mud cubes" to add more, or osmocoat, Jobes etc.

I am not a big fan of Jobes, the osmocoat balls are more labor to add, but they work better over time and are less prone to cause algae.

These may be added at the start up phase as well.

Regards,
Tom Barr

Hi Tom, Just bumping this up again if you don't mind, I think this is a great idea, I just have a few questions.

Are there any problems with compaction of the soil/sand substrate does it tend to go anaerobic over time?

What sort of lifespan would you reckon a substrate like this could last and be plentiful with nutrients before you needed to add any more of the icecube type soil additives?

Could this be in any way comparable to Aquasoil in nutrient levels?

Does it cloud the water quite badly when uprooting plants etc?

If I had a free tank to try this on I would jump at this idea, I know the exact seasonal wetland to get great soil to try this as well, this has to be ten times better than the Tropica clay/sphagnum moss substrate which costs $$.

Could see this catching on, would love to try it in a CO2 injected highlight tank.

Thanks Tom

 

[plantbrain]

I'm doing the dry weights for Myriophyllum for a sediment comparison, give me another week or so and I can report the data.

I tested:

Lake Tahoe sandy soil
SMS (Turface/profile equivalent)
Delta soil
Garden soil + Sand at a 1:3 mix ratio
ADA Aqua soil
Plain Sand

I used 4 replicates, 4 stems each for 4 weeks growth.
I measure Stem length, dry weight before/after, root weight, total biomass dry weight etc.


Regards,
Tom Barr