Doubts from a European...

I'm new to fishtanktv.com but have been following Dustin's videos on youtube for a month or so and have some questions to ask...

I'm from Portugal, Europe, and, as so, I don't have access to the Miracle-Gro dirt you guys use in the US. I thought maybe I could obtain similar results but with another "brand" of dirt. I'm about to set a 60 liter aquarium just for plants... Maybe I'll put some shrimps or some neons later, idk. So my questions are:

- Does the Miracle-Gro dirt bags have a table with the characteristics the dirt has? Like an analysis of the N, P and K amounts? I couldn't find it on the internet so can someone transcribe it for me so that I buy a dirt similar to the one you use??

- I've seen Dustin putting small amounts of clay and coral on the dirt. Why is the coral beneficial? I have JBL substrate balls, which are basicaly ferruginous clay balls. Can they be a substitute to the raw clay?

- If it's just for plants, do I need a filter and heater in the aquarium?

I really want to make my dirt conversion right so please excuse me for being so picky!

Cheers,

Bart.

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Permalink Reply by PaducahFishFan on September 11, 2011 at 8:56pm

Bart,

I don't use clay. I used organic dirt and fluorite with a black sand to top it off.

http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/FlouriteBlack.html

http://www.caribsea.com/pages/products/super_nat.html

Posting a pic of the bag label in a sec. Check out my videos and bio pics. I took a day one pic with it planted. Things have grown amazing well with the dirt.

http://fishtanktv.com/photo/baglabel?context=user#!/photo/baglabel?context=user

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Permalink Reply by Bartolomeu Paes on September 12, 2011 at 9:41am

Thanks for the answer and the photo of the label.

What about organic dirt mixed with akadama? I've read that people get good results with akadama too. Since it's a kind of clay, maybe it does the same thing, what do you guys think?

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Permalink Reply by Bartolomeu Paes on September 13, 2011 at 7:09am

So I found this dirt my Mum has for her plants with these values on the label:

pH..................... 5.5 - 6.5

Humidity............ 50 - 60%

Conductivity....... 0,8 - 1,5 CE

N ..................... 200 - 350 mg/liter

P2O2 (phosph.).. 200 - 300 mg/liter

K2O (potass.).... 300 - 500 mg/liter

Do you think this could be a good one for dirtying the tank?

Apreciate any answer.

Cheers.

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Permalink Reply by Bartolomeu Paes on September 19, 2011 at 1:38pm

Going to start the new tank with a mix of dirt and akadama. In the chat I've been told the dirt I'm using will be fine. The akadama will work as the clay Dustin uses. There are ppl who use just the akadama as substrate.

Cheers for the community! Thanks for the help.

Bart.