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Newbie needing help

G

Ghosty

Member
Joined
9 Mar 2015
Messages
187
hello guys and gals I deceided to sign up to this forum as I was using the planted tank but there members are completely useless and boring so meh

Anyways I have the intentions of re doing my 10g

I have deceided to go dirty or maybe just a little I can't decide witch would last longer

A
Fluorite
Jbl Aqua basics
Soil retainer
Black gravel

B
Jobless Aqua basics
Aquatic compost
Retainer
Black gravel

C
Fluorite
IJbl basics
Aquatic compost
Retainer
Black gravel

I want to plant heavy from start and add a small shoal img fish and only change water once a week minimum

Any help would be smashing

Ghosty
 
Welcome.

5-10mm of lime free top soil (4 quid from a garden centre), capped with 10-20mm of your sand/gravel of choice. Keep it simple, job done. It will last the lifetime of the tank setup if you use water column ferts every so often as longas your lights aren't so bright you need CO2. Dustin fish tank on youtube has plenty on dirted tanks and theirs the tutorial in the substrate section.
 
hello guys

Ender I thought about it and have come to the conclusion that wetlands aquatic compost is my best option I won't have to mineralise and it's been used in my family's ponds for donkeys so that's my compost of choice, plus it can go straight in with a cap and I'm good to plant, mineralising take so long lol

Stu have read that it's why Im going dirtied but what I'm proposing, is adding instead of peat moss witch will likely cause nitrates, as I'm a slow and grow type of guy one day and the next drop it all and plants plants plants, I was considering replacing the peat with Jbl aquabasics as its mainly clay witch has a high cec

And as I already have an establish aquarium soil will leach ammonia, so what I'm contemplating for my establish is to use fluorite underneath Jbl Aqua basics underneath black gravel,

So what I'm asking is what would be the best route for my establish and what would be the best replacment for the peat as I don't like the idea of peat unless for softening, hence wanting to replace with clay or fluorite

Cheers guys
 
Just went to local fish store, and cep heckled on Jbl aquabasics, it's a peat/clay mix, so will 100% be using black Aqua basics and gravel mix underneath any soil, witch will then be capped

Ender I'm reading conflicting information stating that it's far safer to mineralise a top soil, do you know the pros and cons?

Checked Westland aquatic soil, no mention of lime, but is loam based, witch is sand and clay So should be safe, is there any named brands that you would suggest being the safest option

Fell in love with the Exo tera turtle terrarium today, would make an amazing riparian, so tempted :/
 
I've used john innes no3 recipe for all my dirt tanks even rescaping established tanks with no issues. In a planted environment inorganic nitrate is your friend and a necessity for the plants.
 
Yeah I hear it's between John iness no3 and miracle grow organic, inuse westlands products on my indoor plants, there hedge, when I cnphanged out my peace Lily's soil from some random stuff to westlands its exploded with growth

So no doubt the same reaserch and science goes into all their products

If I was to do the dirt method would a soil retainer stop my snails from sitting my soil to avoid those bad gasses or will the use of the retainer stop them from getting deep
 
Ghosty said:
Yeah I hear it's between John iness no3 and miracle grow organic, inuse westlands products on my indoor plants, there hedge, when I cnphanged out my peace Lily's soil from some random stuff to westlands its exploded with growth

So no doubt the same reaserch and science goes into all their products

If I was to do the dirt method would a soil retainer stop my snails from sitting my soil to avoid those bad gasses or will the use of the retainer stop them from getting deep
Click to expand...

I think the general consensus here for the "anaerobic gas pocket" bogeyman is that if you're going to plant your tank, root growth will prevent buildup.

Aesthetically there may be some use for a retainer, but not sure I've seen anyone bother in the journal section
 
Reason I like the idea of the retainer is im for ever moving plants, so I could snip of the roots from above the retainer and move the plant, the old roots would turn to mulch

And I always seam to get snails from plants as I have no quarantine tank

Have got my jaws in a 240 Rio on flea bay just hoping my father in law is willing to pick it up lol
 
Hello again Ender

No problems, so would the theory of going soil, plant HEAVY then at stock worth from start I ask as I have landed the deal of a life time

A juwel Rio 240

So I would take all fish out of new tank clay/peat, soil then gravel , hardscape, plants, add all of the fish back into tank, do 50% water changes everyday Intill readings became perfect, then started adding my community fish into it, would I be ok

Also sorry

The new tank has a red tailed shark, I understand my bn pleco might be a problem, would that be the case of when I re scape the 240, I could add the pleco and the shark same time so they get their own teratories
 
Sorry to be a pain I have another question guys

I may have ordered a too powerful filter for my 10g, bought a 600lph filter with spray bar, i times my tank volume by ten and add 100lph as to counteract the filter dropping some preformance, the flow is quite strong in the tank,but fish seem to be handling it, plays seem to have to fight a little at top of tank, but that's it
 
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