# Filling up soil



## Majsa (21 Feb 2018)

Hi,

I feel my CPD's and shrimp need more space and so they are getting an upgrade from 40L tank to 54L (60x30x30). It will probably take months to set it up since I cannot afford buying all the equipment at once...The idea is to go for a heavily planted nature scape with both stone and wood.

I have 9L of Tropica Aquarium Soil Powder and 5 kg of Koke and black lava stone already. With this amount of soil I get a layer of 5 cm, but I'd rather have more hight in the back and sides. Now the soil is rather expensive and I think I have a fair amount already in terms of nutrients, so I don't feel like purchasing more. I might buy more stones, though.

Would JBL Vulcano Mineral (or lava split) be good as a base layer under the Soil Powder? Would there be any issues I am not thinking of? I am looking for an aesthetically appealing, safe an easy option. I am not thinking about bacterial benefits right now, just that the base layer needs to fill and give sufficient support for the stones. Or would cheap dark gravel under the stones and the soil and possibly in tights be just as good or even better than Vulcano? Thank you for your ideas...


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## steveno (22 Feb 2018)

Hello Marja,

A lot of people do this, In my current scape the tank i have used is a similar size tank, and like you only had a 9kg bag of substrate (i my case ADA), and wanted to create a bit of height without buying additional substrate. i used smashed up lave stones, which i put in a black filter bags to prevent mixing with substrate. I have also used gravel in black tights in the past, both with no issues.

Putting the stones or gravel in filter bags or tights meant that i could easily reuse substrate again when i came to rescape.


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## roadmaster (22 Feb 2018)

I too think it would work depending on composition of top layer.
I am not familiar with the Tropica aquarium soil powder, but wonder does it need cap t keep from clouding when disturbed with any frequency?
I have tried uncapped top soil as only substrate ,and also mixed it with cat litter and it worked well after initial clouding at set up (see water changes/filter cleanings)
But it did not lend itself well to moving plants about with any regularity (see more clouding/filter cleaning)
Aquarium soil powder in the name of the product left me wondering/pondering.
If it is compressed/pellet like material,then no worries and sorry for veering away from initial question.
I might would place a few centimeter's around the edge of the tank and place the larger filler material inside the diameter so as not to be too visible against the glass should aesthetics be of concern..
                              Lee


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## Majsa (22 Feb 2018)

Thanks steveno and roadmaster! According to Tropica you can use the Soil Powder on its own without any other layers. The grain size should be 1-2 mm, so the powder in the name isn't very accurate. About the clouding, I will have to wait and see. They say you shouldn't use JBL Vulcano Mineral with any fine sand, but I guess the soil power doesn't count as such...I am now thinking of a Vulcano or lava as a base (leaving a few centimeter around the edge for Soil only for aesthetic reasons as suggested) to give support to the stones, and lava or gravel in bags behind the stones to give hight towards the back and sides. And then the soil on top.


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## steveno (23 Feb 2018)

Hello Majsa,

I think you'll be fine with what you are suggesting, as advised that's what i did with my current scape leaving a slight gap between the edge to hide the lave stone sub layer thou didn't really matter in my set up as can't actually see the the back of my tank, so provide you have sufficient coverage you should be able to plant what ever you like. Using the lava stone to built the height meant that i only used half of my 9kg bag of soil in my 60 liter tank.

Using the soil powder on it own should OK, actually most of the nutrient uptake that the plants need is provided by the ferts you add to the water. You'll need to ensure that your filter can provide sufficient flow, the recommendation is to achieve x10 every hour.


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## Majsa (25 Feb 2018)

Thanks. Yes, the filter is the next one on my shopping list


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## Smells Fishy (25 Feb 2018)

In the past I've used polystyrene with rocks on top of it to save on substrate.


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## alto (25 Feb 2018)

I'd go with the jbl volcano & Tropica Powder - the former will act much like ADA's power sand in terms of providing a highly porous, (potentially) well aerated substrate base that should outperform more inert gravels 

Tropica Soil Powder is one of my favourites, it's easy to plant in & the fine structure "holds" newly planted plants well
There should be minimal "dusting" though any soil must be treated more cautiously than similar sized gravels

Watch some of the (many) videos available online showing planting tips
Then follow Tropica's 90 Day App


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## Majsa (25 Feb 2018)

I was thinking of polystyrene first too, it's cheap and many people use it but I am a bit worried about floating. 
I've ordered 3L Volcano, not actually sure how much I need but will try it out. I am curious how it is to work with the powder, had only gravel (with and without substrate) until now.


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