Dirting my first tank and have a few questions - long post

Hello everyone - I got back into aquariums about 3 years ago after not having any since the early 70's. (Boy, have things changed!!) I just set up a new 40 gallon breeder with some driftwood and rocks from an old 20 gallon I had, the 30 gallon hob filter from that tank along with a brand new Fluval 50 hob that I added some existing media to. So even tho the tank is only 3 weeks old, I have established bacterial colonies from my old filters - no ammonia or nitrites and nitrates are around 20 ppm. I usually do around a 50% water change weekly. I keep the tank around 76 degrees.

I have narrow leaf Java fern/Windelov Java fern on driftwood and I also have two kinds of Anubias on rocks. I also got a brand new LED light which I've never had before. It says it's 7,500k. I guess I keep it on too long as everything is growing algae - my white sand is tinged green. I've only been keeping it on 2-3 hours per day now to try to keep the algae down. I usually run my lights 12 hours a day, but have cut down with these LED's. As I mentioned, this is my first time with LED's - I've only used the typical hood lights prior to this and didn't keep plants, only rocks and driftwood.

I learned about dirted tanks AFTER I set up my 40 gallon, so now I have to redo the whole thing. I've ordered jungle val, an amazon sword, some dwarf sag, an Anubias Nana and wisteria. My plan is to refill my old 20 gallon and throw the 30 hob back on it. I was going to transfer all the fish to the 20 gallon (12 neon tetras, 4 zebra danios, 3 peppered cory's, 1 oto, and 7 platy's (just waiting for the platy's and zebras to go - plan on replacing them with a school of either 8 diamond or serpae tetras and I also want 1 German blue ram, so that'll be all that's going in this tank for fish.) I was going to then empty everything out of the 40 gallon tank, put down the Miracle Gro Organic, cap it with my old gravel (I used sand in the new tank but read I shouldn't use sand to cap the soil, so I was going back to gravel.) Then I was going to plant the new plants in the substrate, put all the driftwood and rocks with my existing plants back in, fill and drain it a few times, then transfer the fish back in.

But I'm told I shouldn't put the fish back in right away? I don't mind holding them in the 20 gallon but would like to get them back in the 40 gallon tank asap. Since I have established filters, if I do regular water changes for a few weeks (every other day or so) can I add the fish back in right away or do I have to wait?

Also, I'm hoping my algae problem goes away once I have more plants to absorb the nitrates, etc. But I'm reading I should still limit the lights for the first few weeks? What's the max amount of time I should keep the 7,500k lights on for the above plants? Also, I bought some Flourish before I decided to change to dirt. I don't want to get into Co2 - don't know enough and don't have the money for anything fancy right now. Should I still use the Flourish once I have the dirt? Also, I can't seem to find out how long the dirt lasts? Will I have to break down the tank and replace the dirt on a regular basis? I have 30+ years of experience in gardening and consider myself to have a green thumb and more knowledge about plants than the average Joe, but I'm new to aquarium plants. I know I add compost and manure to my garden every spring to rejuvenate the soil, but how do you handle that in an aquarium where the soil isn't easily gotten to?

Sorry for writing a book - I don't know what info you need in order to advise me what to do, so figured I'd throw everything in, plus I tend to ramble! Sorry! Thanks for any help you can give me!

Lisa

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Permalink Reply by Anthony Piti on February 23, 2014 at 11:01pm

With established media and regular water changes you should be able to put your fish in the dirted tank right after setup. Diana Walstad does that when she dirts her tanks. You may want to hold the neon tetras in the 20 for a week just to be sure though since they tend to be more sensitive.

Run your lights 4-6 hours a day at first then you can gradually raise the time as the weeks pass and your plants strengthen and grow. You wont want to use any flourish for a while as it will help the algae grow.

Generally dirt last for 2-3 years at least in a low tech setup (no CO2, low-medium light). What Diana Walstad says in her book is that as you feed fish and they create waste, the waste is broken down in the substrate and this replenishes the nutrients in the dirt. Apparently she ran a dirted tank for about 10 years.

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Permalink Reply by Lisa on February 24, 2014 at 11:17am

Thanks for the reply. One additional question - how strong are my lights? They're Fluval LED lights and the box says they're 7500k. They have white and blue LEDs. I've read that you should use around 6000k for freshwater tanks, so I assume 7500k would be considered "high" lighting or am I wrong? Just trying to figure out what plants I have enough light for going forward as I learn more. I'm sticking to the "beginner" type plants for now. I also read that the 120 degree angle of the lights is wasteful, but I figure it's a breeder tank, which is shallow and wide, so I'm hoping it's good the way it is.

Thanks again for the advice - much appreciated!

Lisa

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Permalink Reply by Anthony Piti on February 25, 2014 at 12:52am

I think that would be considered Medium/high light so you should be alright experimenting with more light demanding plants down the line. With the 40 breeder being shallower, the plants you put in will have a better opportunity to utilize the light.

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Permalink Reply by Lisa on February 25, 2014 at 11:27am

Great! Thanks so much for taking the time to answer my questions. I really appreciate it. I'm so excited - I absolutely love gardening and love my aquariums and am looking forward to combining the two. I never would have thought you could run a tank with "dirt" in it and also keep fish! I guess you're never too old to learn! :)

Lisa

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Permalink Reply by George Barrett on February 26, 2014 at 2:41am

wow that is a book!! if you have this many questions my best advice is to go on youtube and watch dustins videos he answers a lot of these questions for you and a lot more you may not have even thought of yet. ive never had leds but maybe someday!! having cycled filters help the process quite a bit and will shorten your cycling time. I have 3 dirted tanks and the 40 was the easiest. I didn't add fish until I knew for 2 weeks straight that there were no ammonia or nitrite spikes. also add your fish back slowly just like you would normally not all at once but maybe a few this week and a few more the next week given that your nitrates are in balance. ive used sand before it is fine to use makes planting easier and if you can find pool filter sand works great and cheaper than aquarium gravel!! but if you find small gravel this works the best. I would not use any added fertilizer unless you need iron or trace minerals. your dirt is providing the nutrients. play with your lighting times and see what you can get away with but in the first 4 months start slow by then your plants should be really taking off. as far as how long dirt lasts dustin has a video on that its longer than you would think hope this helps