Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Andrew Novotny on July 11, 2012 at 6:54pm

Put the dirt on bottom no fertilizers organic choice potting soil is what i used smooth out how ever you want it and then wet dirt to a mud. squish mud with hand to get out access air Cover mud with a good ratio of dirt to gravel (2 dirt, 1 gravel) something like that just so the tank isn't cloudy the hole time. Smooth out Gravel to your liking and then setup the rest of the tank but be careful of stirring up the bed when poring water in i put a plate down. You can drain and fill it a few times to get out the cloudy water if there is some. The bubbles coming out of the substrate is not harmful just more air. The link is a video i watched might help .http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Sgn8995428

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Fishtankkid on July 13, 2012 at 5:40pm

  You are going to ned t5 lighting or other high output lighting

 

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jose Arocho on July 15, 2012 at 1:46am

thanks you guys i finished it heres a link and let me know what you think still gotta add more plants this friday. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_aBflPaeHA&list=UUvToZospiPFELz...

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by MonstaFish on July 18, 2012 at 2:55pm

Keep Us Updated!:)

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jose Arocho on July 22, 2012 at 1:31am

New video up! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLlny2NvAzo&feature=plcp

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by LED on July 22, 2012 at 9:14pm

a simple approach is, get top soil. NO FERTILIZERS ADDED AT ALL!!!

I would mineralize it (if you dont know how look at the bottom of this reply)

put your planted tank substrate ferts in tank dry (if you want your substrate ferts)

put your very moist wet dirt in tank 

put your gravel as a cap  (common amount is 1 inch to 2 inches on top of at least 2 inches of dirt) I have 1inch gravel and 2 inches of dirt

slowly fill with water to at least an inch above substrate (use a plate or whatever to prevent soil movement)

place your plants (good idea to have at least more than half the grown covered in plants)

fill with water

if you have junk floating around clean it out

cycle tank do NOT ADD FISH YET untill you have fully cycled the tank

MINERALIZE

to mineralize you get the amount of dirt you need in your tank to have 2 inches of dirt

put it in a bucket and flood it with water

mix it up and let stand for some time ( maybe 20 mins)

empty the water

place the soil on a tarp or large surface and spread to a thin layer

let it dry out or till its slightly moist

re moisten the soil 4 times or till you dont want to anymore

(i did this process for a week)

now you have mineralized soil

the reason you mineralize the soil is to have the least amount of ammonia and other toxic molecules leaching into the water column and to make the neutrients available in the from that aquatic plants can use

btw youll have less algae problems

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by LED on July 22, 2012 at 9:15pm

with my process i did not have ANY CLOUDY WATER and no algae problems

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jose Arocho on July 23, 2012 at 1:40am

Thank you very much i will try this one on my 10 gallon, i will be dirting that one soon.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by LED on July 23, 2012 at 7:18pm

welcome =)

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by LED on October 6, 2012 at 6:21pm

I ammend my statement about 1 inch of dirt.  for most people who dont have TONS of plants please use only 1/4 inch of dirt to max 1/2 inch.  you dont want too many nutrients leeching.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by LED on November 22, 2012 at 10:49pm

BTW i must also mention if you want a more balanced mineralized soil you can add macro ferts and micro ferts to this process to hopefully infuse the dirt with these ferts.

If you want to increase the CEC of the soil (soil is very low in CEC) you can add activated carbon during the mineralizing process so that the activated carbon absorbs the nutrients and locks it up for slow release process,  also it can absorb more nutrients as it releases the nutrients =)

• ▶ Reply