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Permalink Reply by 2apes2gp667wr on November 24, 2011 at 10:52am

My two cents.  If I had a small tank like a ten gallon that doesn't need a lot of substrate I'd go with something that is good plant substrate, but doesn't have the hassle of dirt.  If you will only need a small amount I'd go with something like a Flourite, Eco or even a bag of ADA soil.  A 55 gallon with all ADA aquasoil would be a small fortune, but for a 10 I'd go for it.

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Permalink Reply by Paul V. Rotondi on December 5, 2011 at 2:28pm

At the moment, I am not using dirt...that will change for my next large tank, which will be organic topsoil/Clay/iron chunks (basically, 10p iron (NOT Galvanized) finishing nails, scattered in the soil along with the clay).  I will probably lay down a layer of marble-sized clay chunks and nails on the bottom of the tank (mostly clay of course, as the iron will last for a long time), followed by 2"-3" topsoil, followed by a 1" cap of fine gravel.

In my tanks at the moment, my 65 gallon has a substrate of fine to medium Red River pea gravel, supplemented with Seachem Fluorite root tabs and SeaChem liquid ferts (N-P-K-Excel-Iron-Trace), and pressurized CO2.  My Son's 35 Gallon Hex tank I have black & red CaribSea Eco-Complete, Flourish Tabs and seachem liquid ferts, no CO2, though.

My new 20 Gallon is using Black Eco-Complete and fine Black Sand, Flourish Tabs, and SeaChem fertilizers.  Tank was planted yesterday, so we'll check back in a month and take another look at that tank.

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Permalink Reply by Michael V on December 5, 2011 at 8:45pm

Sure you can do sand, flourite or eco-complete and with enough petro-chemical ferts, it works just like hydroponics. I think the point of a 'dirt' tank is more natural, organic approach that can become a true biotope. More importantly, it seems this discussion belongs somewhere other than a dirt convert discussion area...just saying :-)

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Permalink Reply by 2apes2gp667wr on December 5, 2011 at 9:11pm

No organic natural biotope has nothing to do with it. Will dirt make plants grow shithouse?! I'm doin' it. That's more like it.

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Permalink Reply by Michael V on December 6, 2011 at 10:48am

Sorry - I somebody was recommending flourite or eco in a dirt convert section!

A soil substrate is a platform for a biotope...or should be. I think some folks are setting up a "dirt tank" and then sucking the life out of it, then using chemical ferts to compensate. Managed properly, a soil substrate could be self sustainable well into the future without petro-chemicals.

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Permalink Reply by 2apes2gp667wr on December 6, 2011 at 1:42pm

Not trying to be a smartass, but where are the petro-chemicals in the aquarium industry?  I use dry ferts.  Basically powdered magnesium, manganese, iron, potassium etc.  Is Merck, Bayer and Monsanto into aquarium ferts too?  Maybe Excel is the most healthy stuff out there.  But it has been used for a very long time without any major problems.

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Permalink Reply by Michael V on December 6, 2011 at 4:26pm

Sorry - I thought many of these ferts were the same as used for hydroponics and more than just heavy metals. Here's an interesting dialog about going green (if you're interested:

http://www.azaquaticplants.com/community/showthread.php?t=12529

My point was really of leaning towards organics - if you're going to use ferts, you could skip the dirt and just use sand - right?

Anyway, I'm just jawin' and should go. May yer tank be lush 'n green.

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