To deep?

I've got a 44gal corner tank, so its kinda tall. I was thinking about terracing the back up higher than the front, can you go to deep with dirt. Was gonna use pieces of slate or maybe driftwood as a retaining wall to hold back the dirt and make it 4-5 inches higher in the back that the front. That would be 6-7 inches of dirt in areas. To deep?

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Permalink Reply by Robert Jango on June 29, 2012 at 2:09am

In the long term you'll create a lot of anaerobic bacteria, Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S), and probably a lot more bad stuff I'm not familiar with. Not a great idea - a real pollution trap. I restricted my dirt to terra cotta pots placed directly in the tank, but even then had problems with the horrible smell. Now I fill the pots no deeper than 3" and use less black soil (earthworm droppings) than I used to.

I love the terrace idea though. You can create the same effect using wood and/or rocks. Or if you really want gravel, try securing a tray filled with 2" of dirt about 5" above the tank's bottom. There are many creative ways to hide the tray so it looks like natural terracing. And you'll also be able to build a little cave at the same time.

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Permalink Reply by jason on June 29, 2012 at 7:12am

Thanks for the reply, maybe I'll try to make a shelf out of a plexiglass. That way I can make it to the size and shape I want. Thanks again for the info.

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Permalink Reply by Li on June 30, 2012 at 7:13pm

Too deep, tough lesson learned. I'm debating whether or not to tear down my dirt tank and re-doing it because I've got too much dirt in it.

It makes the water constantly foggy, and there's too many anaerobic pockets that explode out puffs of dirt everywhere.