Atragene
Member
Just for reference the sale of peat is I believe being stopped this year so get your supplies in before it’s too late.
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pollyandpear
Member
Thanks guys - I ended up getting some aquatic compost from my fish shop at maidenhead aquatics
G
Guest
Guest
@pollyandpear I bought some from there a while back. Assuming it’s the same brand it worked well.
pollyandpear
Member
Oh good - this isn't aqua soil but soil from the pond section, but they assured me it would be suitable for my tank if capped with sand.
G
Guest
Guest
Yes, pond soil, it’s what I bought too 🙂
Mr.Shenanagins
Member
Nice to see people using dirt!
OllieTY
Member
What are people's thoughts on putting the soil layer as the absolute base of the tank, below any substrate bulking with media bags? I've got 10mm gravel in the bags if that makes a difference...
PARAGUAY
Member
I think MD on You Tube does this on various set ups,often using months old- old substrate kept in sealed plastic containers
G
Guest
Guest
That doesn’t appear to make immediate sense. But roots will eventually reach though the gravel filled bags and find the soil.
However, wouldn’t it be better to layer the soil over the media bags and then cap? The plants then have almost immediate access to substrate nutrients. I’ve done it this way and it works well.
However, wouldn’t it be better to layer the soil over the media bags and then cap? The plants then have almost immediate access to substrate nutrients. I’ve done it this way and it works well.
Onoma1
Member
I would be tempted to provide a base layer of gravel then place the aquasoil within the net bags and finally the layer of sand. In this way the soil is readily acessible to the plants but is separated from the sand and gravel allowing both to be reused. A gravel base layer also makes more sense to me than of finer soil being at the base and cut off from the water column and roots by a barrier of grit.
Or perhaps its just my Yorkshire 'thrift' ....
Or perhaps its just my Yorkshire 'thrift' ....
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OllieTY
Member
Probably yes, I was just trying to be sneaky and have the soil undisturbed while I mess around with scapes 😛I think I'll just stick to the tried and true method!
PARAGUAY
Member
By substrate, MD puts all old substrate from previous set ups ,soil,gravel,sand in net bags capped with soil then sand, or just sand. To clarify. Notice Tropica have a display tank Tropica Soil capped with sand
G
Guest
Guest
Anyway, just noticed this article has over 200,000 views, coinciding with the UKAPS landmark of reaching 20,000 members. Who ever would have thought. . . 🙂
The Miniaturist
Member
Having read all 300 pages as it was then, I discovered I'd been running 'dirtied' tanks (soil capped with sand or gravel) for years!
I erroneously thought they were plain soil, left to settle, then planted without stirring it up into a muddy mess!
How dumb am I? 😳
I erroneously thought they were plain soil, left to settle, then planted without stirring it up into a muddy mess!
How dumb am I? 😳
Mr.Shenanagins
Member
If you follow the guide and use a “soil retainer” you won’t have the problem you’re referring to. I actually bag my soil and cap with sand on top of that, works brilliantly. I pull up plants weekly without any mess, prob less of a mess than pulling up plants out of AS. My success and continued use of dirt is all thanks 👍🏻 the only difference is I prefer to mineralize my soil first due to the lack of availability of true aquatic compost here in the US.
