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Permalink Reply by Jeremy Bingamon on October 20, 2011 at 10:28pm

I know how you feel about the clay. We live in the same area. I even picked up the same box you have. But i put it back because it was just too much clay and to expensive. Instead at michaels i went two shelves up and three sections over to the small packaged stuff and found a natural color clay that never hardens or drys out. It is like a one pound square and have used that in a 29 a 40 two 10's a 5.5 and a 3 gallon tank as well as a 115 leter tupaware tote for an outside tank and i have had no problems. My fish have even dug some pieces up and eaten it without harm. Ive had some ludwigia turn red as it got closer to the lights without ever adding iron ferts. But you should be fine with that clay since u would have a need for that size box.

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Permalink Reply by joey c on October 20, 2011 at 11:05pm

here is my problem, i have ludwigia also, bout a foot long and three quarters of it is red. i have scarlet temples that are a briliant pink and husker red. these are in a fluval substrate that has little mineral value. i do not dose, just letting it grow natural until i move them into my dirted tank. they have been in there for six months. so i am not sure if it is the clay. i hope the clay works, because i have thrown about one midget and two dwarves, also about to kick a gnome to find the right stuff. i appreciate the reply, but i need the amount of clay i think for my 300 gal aquarium that comes in the 5lb cube as you stated. since you live in the area, i found at raven woods golf coarse a healthy supply of plants. while being rather terrible at golf i hit five straight balls into one of their pounds there. determined to get at least one back so i could throw it at my own face. my discovery was that this pond was full of great aquarium plants. star grass, rottila indica, ludwigia, scarlet temple, frill, anacharis, and much others. not trying to be the crazy guy of the group, i did just that and jumped into the pond. bare in mind this is a 120 plus dollar per eighteen whole golf coarse, dress code, fart code,and 7 dollar budweisers. i pulled many jewels from this swamp surrounded by sand. the greenskeep notice that a giant duck with no wings was swimming in the pond. my excuse was my wedding ring flew into the pond.i asked him why there was such a varitey of plants in a man made water source. he said that they spend great amounts of money stocking the ponds with fast growing plants so that the ponds don't turn green, and stink as he says. just don't go back to that one because i peed twice in that pond. ferts you know? but the moral of the story is that most coarses do the same, since it so hot for so long, and the soil here is very high in minerals. check them out

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Permalink Reply by joey c on October 20, 2011 at 11:11pm

i think our sheriff must of deperted the mexican clay here.

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Permalink Reply by Paul Jones on October 20, 2011 at 10:31pm

lol good luck

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Permalink Reply by joey c on October 20, 2011 at 11:12pm

anyone else with any knowledge? will this be ok?

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Permalink Reply by Jeremy Bingamon on October 20, 2011 at 11:21pm

Lol stupid joe. Did you hear he is supposedto headline at the improve this friday? And check out my page i think i have good enough pix to c on it otherwise i know i do on my phone but ive got spme ludwigia x-acura or something like that thats red as hell. Ten i have some ludwigia bartille.. Like a narrow leaf thats more rust color and my gf fav something i cant remeber but its hot pink. Then there is my fav i cant remeber it either but the stem is red and the leaves are green? Backwards from other stuff ive seen

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Permalink Reply by Jeremy Bingamon on October 20, 2011 at 11:23pm

I better retract that last statement about joe bein stupid before i end up in pink underware in tent city lol.

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Permalink Reply by joey c on October 21, 2011 at 12:02am

sorry boss, but i think you miss understood me. i want to use clay as an supplement, that was the point between my pointless ramblings. and yes the bba was probably due to the lack of, or over amount of ferts. probably the lack of because i spent a month in the hospital. so when i got out i had a battle to wage on the algea.   i know i will have to do some dosing, but not as much as my low budget high tech tank. thats why i want to get back into dirt. i hear it is much more forgiving. when i was a kid i did dirt aquariums all the time. things have advanced now, and there is a science to it i need to catch up on. so all help will be welcomed. never tried EL doising. is this what you recomend? how much and how often? i have alot of bamboo and fan lobsters so floursh exel is out of the question which is magic on bba. thanks for reading and the help, or better yet the more help you could give me. thanks

 

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Permalink Reply by joey c on October 21, 2011 at 12:30am

thanks bro, you should here me talk in person, all over the place. i know tom barr, i got flown out to cali to take a class on marsh lands and ponds( more like lakes) that he help develope for the state of cali. we were doing a paddle fish hatchery in nebraska for the state( our college class that is). he is a hard man. just checked out your link, i actually did a similar approach to his methods, but like i said i was in the hospital a couldn't reset my tank. i had no clue he had such a method, and a following. if you ever get a chance to hear a lecture or class by him, well worth it. he is very passionate about his beliefs, and his beliefs are mostly true facts. i learned alot from him from the two days our class spent at his seminar. thanks again bro.

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Permalink Reply by Josh C. on October 21, 2011 at 12:12am

This is the clay dustin uses.

 

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_SPM5661371703P?ci_sku=SPM5...

 

 

Use about a pound of clay for every 20ish gallons.

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Permalink Reply by joey c on October 21, 2011 at 12:36am

i had to look up who dustin is, thought by the way you worded it he was known.  this website has a lot of gems of knowledge on it, and his videos, while numerous are helpful. i watched a couple of speacies sunday, and a appology to diana walstad. glad there are others like me whose wife goes crazy about their husbands doing tanks. you all have been great and i think this link to sears might be my answer if every buddy agrees on it. thanks josh. how long has this sight been going? i just googled dirt aquariums the other day and got it. freaking awsome.

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Permalink Reply by joey c on October 21, 2011 at 12:50am

have you tried a mixture of both methods? perhaps a small layer of dirt and a fert method such as tom bars. or are you using a mineral enriched substrate. if so what kind? i was using eco complete(old formula) and florite in my big tank. i have a 90, and a 75. would you recomend starting smaller than my 300? the way i have my 300 set up, since it is basicaly a 150 long, but twice as wide, i have my 75 as a sump. i think with toms method there is a huge body of water to fert, so maybe no sump? sorry to be pest, all this help is awsome

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