# Suitable soil for planted tank?



## joepaul (1 Jul 2013)

Hi guys and gals. Newbie here coming from marines.  I was wondering if this is suitable for a planted aquarium. The tank in question is a 5ft 500L jewel with a drilled overflow. the only fish i will prob have is cardinal tetras and maybe some cherry barbs. any advice will be greatly appreciated. many thanks, Joe.


----------



## joepaul (1 Jul 2013)




----------



## Alastair (1 Jul 2013)

Cant see a picture

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 2


----------



## joepaul (1 Jul 2013)

oh. how do i upload please?


----------



## joepaul (1 Jul 2013)

ive added a space in the last letter. if you delete that space and should be a direct link.
 .imageshack.us/img6/1079/95fr.jp g


----------



## Brian Murphy (1 Jul 2013)

I would have thought a big NO NO! If going for soils then organic or john Innes No.3 I think is the way to go ..... although it can get messy!


----------



## Henry (1 Jul 2013)

It's possible that this will contain wetting agents and such, which most likely will not do the water any good. The above recommended are ok, along with B&Q's own brand orange and white bag stuff (if you pick the bits of bark out), and 'Aqua Soil' (the pond stuff, not the extortionate ADA stuff).


----------



## joepaul (1 Jul 2013)

Ok thanks guys. Ive only just decided on a planted tank so still alot to learn and something to look forward to. thanks for the advice ill have a ganda!


----------



## joepaul (1 Jul 2013)

Henry said:


> It's possible that this will contain wetting agents and such, which most likely will not do the water any good. The above recommended are ok, along with B&Q's own brand orange and white bag stuff (if you pick the bits of bark out), and 'Aqua Soil' (the pond stuff, not the extortionate ADA stuff).


 
 The b&q stuff, is it the compost stuff 10L £1.20? thanks.


----------



## Palm Tree (1 Jul 2013)

As it says 'enriched with nutrients' I would stick to John Innes No3. It is tried and tested and it gives results(It works even better with water column dosing).  What will you be capping it with by the way?


----------



## joepaul (2 Jul 2013)

Palm Tree said:


> As it says 'enriched with nutrients' I would stick to John Innes No3. It is tried and tested and it gives results(It works even better with water column dosing).  What will you be capping it with by the way?


ok thanks. Does it matter what i cap it off with? Coming from the marine side i love white crushed coral. Could i use that? Thanks for your replies.


----------



## Alastair (2 Jul 2013)

joepaul said:


> ok thanks. Does it matter what i cap it off with? Coming from the marine side i love white crushed coral. Could i use that? Thanks for your replies.



A crushed coral substrate isnt suitable as it would bump up your ph gh etc massively high in a planted tank. As im sure you know it acts like a buffer. 

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 2


----------



## joepaul (2 Jul 2013)

Alastair said:


> A crushed coral substrate isnt suitable as it would bump up your ph gh etc massively high in a planted tank. As im sure you know it acts like a buffer.
> 
> Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 2


yesbof course it would. Im so used to ph being high as i had cichlids then marines. What the ideal ph for a planted tank. I would use play sand but find it a bit too fine and stirs up very easy.


----------



## Alastair (2 Jul 2013)

joepaul said:


> yesbof course it would. Im so used to ph being high as i had cichlids then marines. What the ideal ph for a planted tank. I would use play sand but find it a bit too fine and stirs up very easy.



Ermmm depends on the fish you want to keep and your tap water ph but usually anything around 7 is considered the norm.  

If your looking for a bigger grain size then you couldnt do any better than pool filter sand. Its really cheap too and has a very natural look to it. 

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 2


----------



## joepaul (2 Jul 2013)

Alastair said:


> Ermmm depends on the fish you want to keep and your tap water ph but usually anything around 7 is considered the norm.
> 
> If your looking for a bigger grain size then you couldnt do any better than pool filter sand. Its really cheap too and has a very natural look to it.
> 
> Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 2


 
Hi again. justy the usual really, cardinal tetras, cherry barbs etc. id like to keep it low tech really. dont fancy dosing co2 yet as id like to look into it more as from what ive read can be difficult in larger aquariums. i have 80w of 6500k leds and 24w  3w of royal blues.  do you think they will be sufficient? many thanks.


----------



## Henry (2 Jul 2013)

The B&Q stuff you mentioned is what I have used in the past, just be sre to remove any large clumps of debris. Search for 'Moler clay' on this site. It is an excellent capping medium.


----------



## joepaul (2 Jul 2013)

so is it a case of as long as the soil/compost is organic then its safe to use? this any good?   Miracle-Gro Fruit & Vegetable Compost 50L, 5010272086850


----------



## Tim Harrison (2 Jul 2013)

I always use a 1:1 mix of those pictured below. There are quite a few threads on the subject including this which potting compost ? | UK Aquatic Plant Society, and of course my tutorial The Soil Substrate Planted Tank - A How to Guide | UK Aquatic Plant Society, and also try searching this forum El Natural & Low Tech | UK Aquatic Plant Society.http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/which-potting-compost.26771/#post-278137


----------



## joepaul (2 Jul 2013)

so how many 20L packs of john innes no3 would i need for a 5ft tank? they have that in b&q for £3.98


----------



## Andy Thurston (2 Jul 2013)

How many litres and how deep is your tank


----------



## joepaul (2 Jul 2013)

Big clown said:


> How many litres and how deep is your tank



Id say 450-500L and the tank is 21.5 water height. I have to say you guys are much more helpful than somebof the reefing guys lol. Alot of the time if you ask a question it turns into an arguement lol


----------



## Andy Thurston (2 Jul 2013)

21-23.25l of dirt will give you 1" layer in tank. Simply multiply this by the thickness of ji3 that you want. Im not sure how deep you want but its a good idea to mix with sand for a layer deeper than an inch thick, this helps airation and stops it becoming too packed


----------



## joepaul (2 Jul 2013)

Big clown said:


> 21-23.25l of dirt will give you 1" layer in tank. Simply multiply this by the thickness of ji3 that you want. Im not sure how deep you want but its a good idea to mix with sand for a layer deeper than an inch thick, this helps airation and stops it becoming too packed


 

ok thats great mate. i spoke to a mate that has a 4ft longx 2ft water height x i think its 1.5-2ft wide. i might get that instead to use. i think one bag will be enough dont u? then i got lots of beach sand that i could cap it with? just trying to make the most of what ive got as long as i clean it prop? what u think?  cheers.


----------



## Palm Tree (2 Jul 2013)

Beech sand should be ok if washed thoroughly.
I'd use 2 bags of john innes No3 personally.


----------



## sciencefiction (2 Jul 2013)

To calculate how much soil you need, first decide how deep the soil layer you want. Then multiply the lenght of the tank(150cm) by the width of the tank by the depth of the soil you'd like, then devide by 1000 to give you the amount in kg/litre.  For example in a 150cm L and 60cm W tank, in which you'd like 2.5 cm depth of soil, you'd mulitply 150x60x2.5=22500, so for that you'd need around 22.5 kilos/litres.

The soil layer itself doesn't need to be very deep, no more than 2.5, otherwise you may run into problems with the soil compacting and becoming anaerobic and affect the fish and plants. I know some suggest mixing it with sand but I don't see how is that going to stop it from compacting as sand is as bad. You need to cap the soil either way, but then again 2.5cm or slightly more is enough.


----------



## Bryson375 (25 Jul 2013)

Henry said:


> B&Q's own brand orange and white bag


 
Henry, was that the stuff I used when I got my first proper tank? If so then it wasn't too bad at all. I mean, all I knew then was that plants were green(now I learneneded about red ones too!  ...) and it worked well enough for my early learning period.






This was my first go at it with cheap soil.


----------



## Henry (26 Jul 2013)

Thats the stuff. Does the job amazingly well for £1.20. Not sure why anybody uses anything else!


----------



## Bryson375 (26 Jul 2013)

I got some B&Q stuff this time, B&Q verve, and mixed it with clay. It's not that great if I'm honest but ok for low tech. Think I might have to change it now I'm slowly creeping towards to a tech tank


----------

