Normal garden soil for a planted tank?

Hey all , i'm gonna start a planted setup and was wondering if its possible to use garden soil as a base layer and then add normal quartzite gravel on top for my plants . arethere any precautions and that that i must take.
any advice would be appreciated

 

I did this with potting soil. NEVER again.:huh: But you should look at some threads using PFP (palm fibre peat) with chemicult and pool filter sand.

 

I know there are members that use Guanosol capped with fluorite.:smile1:

 

I used soil and compost(organic) in my pond with lilies , it has a sad smell when you work with the plants. But id rather say that's the compost, so this will be interesting . @Fishie Mitchie what went wrong?

 

@garraman :
I have used it and it works great. The plants love it but..... there are drawbacks. You have to prepare it very well for about a month and only then is it safe.
Rescaping is not good. When the soil gets into the water column you will have an algae breakout. Can also be dirty. If you are looking for a cheap, DIY substrate then its a good idea, but if you plan on doing it then google how to prepare it. "How to prepare mineralized topsoil" : try that.

 

Hi how big is the tank? I have never done this in a tank but have done this in a large tub. I will try this in a tank soon.

1. Get some good potting soil. Depending on how big the tank is you will require as Much as about 2 or 2.5 cm in the tank.

2. Add the soil to the tank. You can make a slope at the back if you like. That's up to you.

3' add a little water to the soil and let it soak. Add enough water so that it becomes like a mud like substance. I let mine soak for a day or to. This will let any air from the soil come out.

3. You can now cap with some gravel of your choice. I used some fine gravel but depending on what plants you are going to grow choose your gravel.

4. Take some news paper or a black bin bag and cover the substrate. Put a dish in there and slowly fill water. The water will look very cloudy at first. Drain and fill again. I did this about 4 times.

5. Fill the tank a little then you can plant and add what ever you wand. Wood etc.

6. Fill up and you are good to go. It will clear over time.

Hope this helps. You can add cley etc but I did not.

 

@Marius Swart I'm not actually sure, just for the first few weeks a did 50% water changes everyday as the water was brown every single day. Obviously I didn't cap it properly so the nutrients must have leaked out. Now my plants don't really grow at all, and my Pleco eats them . I also like to move my plants around so this just wasn't a good option for me.

 

will do @FishLover i'll do some googlin'
@dash my tank is 120l with a base of 100x35 , i will fill a third of the tank (around a bout there ) and i'll follow your process , much appreciated man

 

Check out google and YouTube lots of good stuff on there. Shout if you need help

 

Hey, I did this in Jan, You can follow this link. (http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/showthread.php?15347-Dirt-tank-setup-Has-anyone-done-this)
Mine failed cause I was too eager to get it in. You need to let it soak.

Oh, and keep us uodated.

Later and goodluck

 

wont the planting of the plants create wholes that let the soil come through ?

 

The idea is to plant in the gravel and the roots will find its way down in to the soil.

 

@Fishie Mitchie I also had that in the pond, water was brown for almost 2-4 months. But now its all clear but I removed it since they die in winter? Nice to now I needed to prepare, now I know.

 

will do guys , but i first gotta get the lighting as well ( gonna set up a whole bunch of phillips tornado bulbs ) and theni'll work on gravel as well as ferts

 

You can get reflectors as well they really help.

 

another thing i'll DIY :laugh:

 

i did 2 tanks with pottingsoil, peat and veiculite capped with gravel and both where successful

 

Go look here: it was a two foot planted tank, set up in a rush, to accommodate a batch of new plants that I bought...
http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/showthread.php?t=11696
I did this quite some time ago and the tank ran for ages. It became a propagation tank for clippings. Was also fully stocked with a variety of fish,
I broke it down in December to make space for my new build, which I'll be doing a journal of soon. I highly recommend the method I described here as it's easy, cheep and works without any hitch at all..


Sent from my iPhone using 100% recycled words!

 

Hi @barry m. That tank looked fantastic. What cat litter did you use? And, where did you get it.

 

Thanks guys , I'm definitely gonna do the potting soil method ,much cheaper , thanks for all the help , loving the forum help , really motivational seeing everyone's tanks , I'm gonna start the setup as soon as I get some cash for this month , I'll buy all around this month and I'll post a thread on how it goes :top: