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Permalink Reply by PK on September 9, 2011 at 4:52pm

Depends on what you want! if your want plants dirt is one of the cheapest substrate available!!! Not to mention that it is probably one of the best substrate available. But if you plan on putting some fake plants or not a lot of plants, then i would recommend to not dirt the tank, as it will just end up causing algae bloom and excess nutrients!!!!

 

If you end up with no dirt option, i recommend Pool Filter Sand!!! Awesome Substrate and only a few rinse is enough to clean it!!! 

BIG WARNING - DO NOT USE ARAGONITE ARGAMAX SUGAR SAND. i spent 8 hours cleaning a 30 pound bag!!!!

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Permalink Reply by Hmoobthor on September 9, 2011 at 6:21pm

with that big of a tank..i would go with some reliable as eco complete or flourite cause the total cost of gravel and dirt combine will outweigh the brand name instead

 

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Permalink Reply by PaducahFishFan on September 9, 2011 at 9:31pm

Your on the wrong web site if your looking for no dirt.  :-)

 

NEVER had a banana plant do this in a low tech tank until I used dirt:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwnyI3BuGB4

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Permalink Reply by Keith Whiteside on September 10, 2011 at 1:06am

Thanks for the replys!

Paducahfishfan...that tank is awsome looking. What did you use for a " cap" on your dirt?

What type of dirt? 

What size tank is that?

Thats kinda the look Im going for. I have a BUNCH of Driftwood I got CHEAP...( know the women that works for store)....I have about 20 pieces...im not going to use close to that amount....but thats how many came in the big bag. I want to go with some sort of high flowing plant in the back...and some short stuff in the front. I have no clue what type of lights I should be looking to get

Do you use Co2?

Thanks for all the help

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Permalink Reply by PaducahFishFan on September 10, 2011 at 8:17am

Thanks!  It's worked out well.

The tank is 4x2x2 which is basically a 2 feet deep 120.

 

I used one whole bag of organic dirt based on info on dirt from Dustinfishtank.

Then I used 4 bags of fluorite and 8 bags of tahitian moon sand.

http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/FlouriteDark.html

http://www.caribsea.com/pages/products/super_nat.html

 

I put the dirt in dry which isn't how everyone else does it here.  Then I used a 5" Putty Knife to contour and shape the dirt so there was a high to low grade towards the front to the tank.  Washed the fluorite in a bucket and applied it wet.  Smoothed that out.  The fluorite is a heavier rock enriched for plants.  Then I put the sand on top of that.

 

The only thing to note about this sand.  It looks awesome and I love the color but it has a slight magnetic feature to it.  So it's VERY annoying if you use and type of magnet to anchor anything inside the tank.  If you check out my channel as well as my bio on this site you will see details on it.

 

Cheers!

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Permalink Reply by Greg on September 10, 2011 at 11:12am

Dirting my tank was the best thing I ever did. But plant heavy on the outset. I would say I was having average growth with eco complete and co2. I added the dirt, coral, clay and along with the co2 my tank is friggin exploding. Had an anubias flower, a plant I had for 6 years. The reds in my plants...amazing. The pics on my profile are from a month ago, a few weeks after I dirted, and you should my tank now. I will put new pics up today. It's awesome.

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