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westland aquatic compost

darren636

darren636

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5 Aug 2011
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dorset
want to make a start on my new emergent set-up, wanting to use a soil base, does anyone know if this westland will provide problems with ammonia at start up? i doubt it as i use it in ponds etc. just checking. thanks guys. :thumbup:
 
Used this recently when changing substrate... pretty much just planted then headed off for 5 weeks so wasn't around to monitor ammonia. All livestock seems fine so i doubt it leached too much ammonia (although I do have a huge amount of plants that would have soaked it up).

Just an FYI though, it does contain lime so will raise hardness and probably pH.
 
states the ph will be in the 6.5 region, which is ok, i have some serious peat water waiting ( ph 3) so if it does mess around with the ph i will be able to keep it where i want, thanks b.t.
 
Even if it did leach ammonia, just stack the tank with fast growing floaters maybe?
If your heart is set on that compost, I mean.
Kris
 
got lots of frogbit and riccia i can bung in, as well as my mature echinodorus and crypts .
 
so - the pond soil is in the tank, filled with water and a few plants. I like the look of just bare soil but it does stir up very easily. Apart from the clouding and aesthetic issue is there a need to cap the soil?
 
I'd say if you didn't cap it with at least an inch of sand or gravel, there will be lots of mess. Lots.
Maybe not capping it can cause it to leach more ammonia ? I don't know.
 
Hi I have used it on its own and mixed with 50% peat moss both have proven extremely good planting media. The plants below are growing in 50/50 mix, with about the equivalent of 1/10th EI ferts dosing.

fts2.jpg


It took about a week for this tank to cycle (heavily planted), however, I also added a minuscule amount of peat from my old filter to the soil substrate, no more than a few teaspoons full, which I think was perhaps enough to inoculate it and speed up the cycling and mineralisation processes.

I didn't do any water changes for the first week, and neither did I use established filter media. During that time ammonia, nitrites and nitrates peaked at a reasonably high level then quickly returned to a trace and remained stable.

As for using it uncapped, I should imagine it would settle eventually but it would be very easily disturbed, so depending on your urge to move stuff around turbidity could become a longterm issue.

I often use a soil retainer/gravel tidy (below) and then cap with a few cms of sand but you could equally cap with a Gucci substrate of your choice, such as columbo flora base which would look natural and have the obvious added benefits.

tankreplacement6.jpg


The links below have more info.
 
i really do like the look of the plain soil. When it settles it does look like a slice out of a lake. Will be moving house again in the summer so this is temporary. Still murky at the moment but.... Looks so natural :) guess i would get the same effect with a fine grade sand as a cap.
 
think i will have to cap it.... Still has not settled out. Will grab some landscape fabric and then use sand as a top layer.
 
nice one troi. Will test for ammonia later too. Should not be any but.....
 
i need about 125 cms in length and about 30 cms wide :)
 
thanks for the offer alastair- got to visit homebase to buy sand so i will grab some fabric at the same time. You are a very nice man :)
 
tested the soil. Ammonia between 4 and 8 ppm. Says on the packet- ' will not affect water quality ' yeah right....
 
my gh is off the scale anyway ! was hoping to get my microdevario in the tank, with some cpd's... it will have to wait, other than that i like the soil, but they tell fibs on the packaging.
 
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