# John Innes on its own



## Eric`S` (27 Jun 2012)

Hi,new here & would like to know if it is possible to use John Innes no 3 compost on its own,without having any capping.Have been tropical fishkeeping for the past 25 years & currently have a 40 gall marine tank (live rock,2 clowns,1 pyjama wrasse & mushroom coral) up & running without filters.,just using 4x power heads (2 of which are on a wave maker) for water movement,no water changes for 18 months,just topping up evapouration with RO water & everything is ok.Thought I`d ask the above question as in ponds there is no capping on soil & wonder if the same can be applied to an aquarium.

Thanks for any reply,

Eric


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## BigTom (27 Jun 2012)

Hi Eric. 

You can use soil on it's own without a cap, but you will kick up a lot of mess if you ever try and rearrange any plants or hardscape, or are a bit gung-ho with water top offs. Similarly, bottom dwellers such as loaches and corydoras would probably be a bad idea.

Also, be aware that John Innes 3 (and most other JI and other commercial soil mixes) will raise your pH and hardness quite a lot, so they're not a great idea if you intend on keeping soft water fish.


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## Eric`S` (27 Jun 2012)

Thanks for the quick reply BigTom.Wanted to keep shrimps & snails & possibly half a dozen small rasbora & 3 pygmy cory`s.Tank is Aquanano 30 (22 litres).Think I`ll probably go with a playsand cap then.

Thanks again,

Eric


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## sr20det (27 Jun 2012)

Eric`S` said:
			
		

> Thanks for the quick reply BigTom.Wanted to keep shrimps & snails & possibly half a dozen small rasbora & 3 pygmy cory`s.Tank is Aquanano 30 (22 litres).Think I`ll probably go with a playsand cap then.
> 
> Thanks again,
> 
> Eric


look into lowering your ph, I have found that London hard water is not soft enough, to have something raise that further would stress rasbora, etc as they are soft water fish.


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## sr20det (27 Jun 2012)

doh, double post, ignore


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## Tim Harrison (28 Jun 2012)

Eric`S` said:
			
		

> Think I`ll probably go with a playsand cap then.



Play sand is very fine grained and will prevent gas and nutrient exchange between the water column and the soil. Try something like pool filter sand with a grain size about 3mm. Or you could do what Alastair has done; top your soil with Ada Amazonia or flora base, the added advantage is that it still gives that natural look. viewtopic.php?f=35&t=21327


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