Step by Step process of Dirting my 75

I've had a planted tank for about 8 months. I've been pretty unhappy with the growth and success with my plants. I had a sand and gravel mix. I finally decided to dirt my tank and thought I would log all my steps for anyone else wanting to dirt a tank. I only have one tank so I planned on restocking my tank immediately. This is what my tank looked like before I started without dirt.

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Permalink Reply by Chris Hill on October 29, 2012 at 3:42pm

I started by prepping my dirt. I used Miracle grow organic soil like many have suggested. I soaked it for about a week before adding t to my tank. First I sifted out any large chunks. Next I put it in a large bin and filled it with water. My thought was anything that floated wasn't dirt. By this point I was down to about half of what I started with. I drained out as much water as possible and added in about a half bag of Flourite and some sand from the existing tank (hoping to bring in some of the good bacteria)

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Permalink Reply by Chris Hill on October 29, 2012 at 5:22pm

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Permalink Reply by viper15a on October 29, 2012 at 5:56pm

I recently dirted a tank and I wish I sifted the dirt a little more carefully. Now every time I mess with the tank there seems to be an abundance of organic material that floats out the the soil.

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Permalink Reply by Chris Hill on November 7, 2012 at 6:11pm

Next added dirt, gravel and plants to the tank. My water was a mess and it took many water changes to get it remotely clear.

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Permalink Reply by Chris Hill on November 7, 2012 at 6:13pm

I did another water change the folowing day and added my fish since they were living in a garbage can.

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Permalink Reply by viper15a on November 8, 2012 at 7:43am

Looks good...I did 4 or 5 75% changes before my water cleared up.

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Permalink Reply by Chris Hill on November 8, 2012 at 5:24pm

Almost two weeks later. A little bit of new growth showing on some of the plants. Fish are doing well. Water is still a little cloudy. Im doing two large water changes a week still, hopefully I should be done with that.

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Permalink Reply by DePreston on November 8, 2012 at 7:04pm

What is the advantage of dirting a tank. I have gravel and my plants are doing very well, it seems like the mud would make the water dirty. Just wondering.