Comment by Joe Spada on March 20, 2013 at 1:14pm

Hey man,

First off, great vid, its nice to watch one with details about how you dirted. Also your enthusiasm and concern for your fish is great.

I have a few questions and or comments for you.

Do you really feel an inch of dirt is good? In my first dirted tank I used about an inch deep in my 30gal long. I really didnt have many plants, a few swords, a few cryps, and some val. After about a year I decided to redo the tank, when I removed the substrate I noticed that about 90% of the dirt was gone. I assumed it had decomposed and was consumed by the plants. What do think about that? How long have you had a dirted tank up and running before breaking it down and re-dirting?

 I also used sand as a cover in this first tank. I found that the sand seemed to compress under the weight of the water and it made it difficult for the roots to grow down into the soil. Do you find that this happens with your sand?

Comment