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Permalink Reply by Mike Todd on October 19, 2011 at 12:52pm

Only thing I can think of is set it up with the dirt and cap no plants no fish yet and let it sit with some circulation for a month or two to let the extra nutrience leach out and then drain all the way plant and fill back up   

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Permalink Reply by Hmoobthor on October 19, 2011 at 1:30pm

catch some rainwater man!! good stuff!

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Permalink Reply by Robert on October 20, 2011 at 4:49am

Collect rain water LOL 

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Permalink Reply by Andy on October 19, 2011 at 1:48pm

lol  rain water....well that would take a while. How many times would I have to do water changes when first dirting a tank?

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Permalink Reply by Hmoobthor on October 19, 2011 at 1:54pm

u don't necessary have too..but is wise if you have fish in there to keep all of the nutrient that is leeching out in balance.

 

 

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Permalink Reply by Andy on October 19, 2011 at 2:01pm

okay thank you, how often?

 

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Permalink Reply by Hmoobthor on October 19, 2011 at 3:32pm

weekly wc

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Permalink Reply by Andy on October 20, 2011 at 11:44am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhgYp-Qg1oQ&feature=channel_vide...

 

This was his response?! check out the comments.

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Permalink Reply by Oz "Mr.Chain Sword" on October 21, 2011 at 1:37pm

Here is your solution,use your well water for your dirt tank,you may not agree but you will,the minerals and metals and natural bacteria in the water is not only good for the dirt but also for plants and fish,when you first setup your dirt tank ANY water is good enough,you will need to cap off your dirt no matter what,and YES you need to cap it off BEFORE you fill it up the first time.I am not sure what look you are going for but if you use POOL FILTER SAND it works very well as a cap for dirt(I use it myself)and is also very cheap(keeping with low cost of dirt tank)...After you drain and fill at least a couple times and the water looks better,begin running at least one filter with carbon and some floss such as cotton floss,just enough to remove particles from the water and begin removing some of the amonia and nitrates and nitrites from the water as well as the Chlorine and Chloramine making the water ready within 24 hours for plants...Then plant it HEAVILY,as heavy as you can to soak up nutrients,if you must or have them already add some type of floating plant/s to help out with excess nutrients,after one week 75% water change then allow 2 weeks of sitting,just add water no water changes,after 2 weeks begin doing 50% water changes once a week for a total of one month then it's only 20-25% a week for water changes.Once the dirt has settled(as in sink down)it will leach less,also remember to poke at the dirt with something like a straw to release amonia bubbles that build up in the dirt(it happens regardless and its better to do it regularly in the first month so not to have any fish in and risk killing fish or amonia spiking when you had no clue!)Try to wait at least a month or two before adding fish to allow your pants time to grow in undisturbed,this will also make your water quality much higher...

 

This will help you out,but please for the sake of your tank take you time and dont rush it,hard work pays off!

 

Mr.Amazon

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