@@rustyshackleford6092 i would think you would need more soil than sand or at least equal parts. Plants have deep roots will need more than an inch of soil to grow? But what do I know. I just started keeping aquariums-
Father fish has the best advice out of all aquarist I've watch. Some channels are just pure business and will tell you to buy this fertilizer buy that etc. Father fish is honest and straight forward.
I totally agree… In this case dirt is more than it should be( 1 inch for this tank) also sand should be 2 inches… Need more plants in aquarium not just floating plants 🌱 Add fish after 2 days 😢
I made one with Father fish technique but my tank is bubbling some gas from the dirt which has a fair odor but did no harm until now which I’m curious when this will end or if it will. If you’ve experienced such thing please tell me your opinions.
WTG! So good to see more people going for dirt tanks. Your plants and aquatic life will love it. I hope we see more top soil planted tanks coming to TH-cam.
I made one but my tank is bubbling some gas from the dirt which has a fair odor but did no harm until now which I’m curious when this will end or if it will. If you’ve experienced such thing please tell me your opinions.
Excellent advise on pre soaking the dirt first. Makes all the sense in the world. You are the only one on TH-cam that I heard say that. I’m building mine right now as I rewatch your video. Following your footsteps. 👍🏼
Used straight garden dirt, worms and pill bugs and all, worms are alive a year and a half later underwater still going. Fish don’t mind. Cap with sand though to keep ammonia trapped in the substrate and cleaner water
So I'm building a small aquarium. I'm gonna use potting mix and I'll top it with some aquarium sand. Is it ok if I put some seeds above the sand or should I put th seeds on the potting mix then top it off with the sand.
If you keep the dirt dryer (mud pie), you can pull it off the edges of the tank. When you add the sand, the dirt is hidden. I like equal parts, black cow & peat moss for the soil. Subbed ❤
hey ! i am one of those foolish newbies on the learning curve right now i got a 10 gallon tank with like half an inch of gravel as the only substrate💀 So i was thinking could i just add an inch of potting/garden soil over the gravel and then cap it up with 2 inch sand?? or do i have to remove the gravel first? i would end up having like almost 4 inches of substrate by this...would this be an issue? thanks
thank you. best vid so far for this setup. most of the vids available are just product placements, while yours is very informative and direct. thank you
hey , i have prepared a dirted 10 gallon tank but the problem is i have comparatively low wat light (only 10 watts for 10 gallon) so can u suggest some hardy stem plants that i can plant in there in the low light? thanks
Dirted tanks are great for plant growth, but suck for water changes. When I set up my 50g "dirted" tank, I pre-treated the organic potting soil by dumping it in a pail, adding 1/3 of a volume of unscented, non-clumping cat litter, and soaking it all in water for a few days with occasional mixing. Every day, when the solids had totally settled, I poured off the brown water, and replaced with fresh. This was much easier than doing water changes in an established tank, because I could do it all in the back yard. After this treatment I would put the mud in the bottom of the tank, and cap with 2 inches of aquarium gravel. After about 2 years of having to do lots of water changes for the tank, the excess nutrients levelled off, and my water chemistry was much better. I ran the tank for 15 years, and had great plant growth the whole time. The only reason I tore it down was because I had to move it into another room. I decided to try a "no water change" tank for the new setup, by reasearching and setting up a "plenum" tank.... lots of videos on that. I guess I will see if that setup gives me good plant growth.
hey , i have prepared a dirted 10 gallon tank but the problem is i have comparatively low wat light (only 10 watts for 10 gallon) so can u suggest some hardy stem plants that i can plant in there in the low light? thanks
By any means if it works for you well…. then do it! I have a few dirted tanks and love them. Reason I leave my dirt out side on a tarp is to get all the moisture out so it is dry. Then I sift the dirt with really fine mesh to get out the sticks and what not. Put the sifted dirt into a container for easy transport and storage for later. Haven’t ever really have a problem with the tanks doing it this way. Although, the tanks that i had that we not sifted never really did well. So there’s my reasoning haha. Tank on 🤙🏻
Hello sir, did you wash your dirt before using it? Or you just put it into the tank after sifting ? I'm new to this hobby and I want to try dirt for planted aquarium cause aqua soil is expensive.
Did you buy your dirt or did you get from the yard ? the reason why I'm asking is I have been composting all my oak leaves into dirt & was thinking if that can be used for a tank that has no chemicals in it.
@@raisinggoldfishonabudget7058 I did buy the dirt since it was cheap. Although I do hear that people say only use organic top soil but I have never used top soil before. I just use organic potting soil. None the less, your compost pile on the other hand sounds like it will be fine (assuming). What I would do so make sure that it is fine is doing a small tank first without livestock in it. Just as a experiment tank with plants and see what happens for a few months as well as water testing. Just to make sure that there isn’t anything harmful in it. Just in my opinion.
from Spain greetings friends, I wanted to say that now that I was going to opt for gravel to siphon definitively since 2015 that I have been with the trial and error system, well that's it; I love siphoning.
Just started setting up a tank like this. Started to question whether the peaty potting soil was a poor choice, so a feel more reassured after watching this. Now I need to go get some plants and a few mud guppies.
So I'm building a small aquarium. I'm gonna use potting mix and I'll top it with some aquarium sand. Is it ok if I put some seeds above the sand or should I put th seeds on the potting mix then top it off with the sand.
@@wijdankhan6087 It really depends on the plant species. A lot of aquatic plants only germinate on mudflats or in very shallow water during low water periods. You’ll just have to experiment with a few seeds at a time.
When it comes to working on my tanks I have all the patients in the world, & by the way you explained everything a kid could do it, so being I can do the EXACT SAME THING you did, but on a larger scale of doing 1 in a 110 gal stock tank for plant's.
hey , i have prepared a dirted 10 gallon tank but the problem is i have comparatively low wat light (only 10 watts for 10 gallon) so can u suggest some hardy stem plants that i can plant in there in the low light? thanks
Love your house and tanks /plants ! Also, the audio on your videos is great. So many videos are hard to understand. I find them muffled, but yours are nice and clear. Give your partner/wife / girlfriend a patt on the back good camera work.
hey , i have prepared a dirted 10 gallon tank but the problem is i have comparatively low wat light (only 10 watts for 10 gallon) so can u suggest some hardy stem plants that i can plant in there in the low light? thanks
How timely that I came across this video. Yesterday I put organic potting soil into my new 29 gallon, wet it down into mud and have a fan on it to help remove the ammonia. You mention floating plants to help process the ammonia. Would a large (12 × 12 x3 inch) free floating mass of Java Moss do the same?
hey , i have prepared a dirted 10 gallon tank but the problem is i have comparatively low wat light (only 10 watts for 10 gallon) so can u suggest some hardy stem plants that i can plant in there in the low light? thanks
I put in potting compost, then added in blood bone meal. Then drop of water, then sand. Even after all settled if i disturb the substrate it soon settles. Over the sand i have various coarse grits, pebbles , all sorts. What with dead leaves the fish love to ferret around digging and hiding feeding under leaves.
Planted, 4 weeks later the plants have nearly filled the tank from just a few cuttings. Ammonia dropped week 4. With 20 fish in. I started 3 days no fish, then 3 Platies. Week later 3 more, week later guppies and tetras, snails ans shrimps.. All happy bunnies (or fish).
For all of mine I use a soil mix and put the fish in right after filling it up and don't ever change water and never have any problems like others say they do. I use fox farm ocean forest soil as it doesn't have any water soluble nitrogen and has aquatic based nutrients and I mix in sand (mostly pool filter), some crushed coral, I use flourite to give it some cec value and usually use the sand but have used the red as well. Then I cap it with sand and it usually doesn't matter how thick the cap is. I have 1 tank with only a tiny sand cap and it's working just as good as the one with 3+" sand cap.
@@Calthrow I get it from Home Depot or lately I have been going to Rural King as they have it sitting outside on pallets. Good luck! And remember there are usually more roots than leaves in most plants so it's good to have enough room for them.
Your reply to the TH-camr here that uses organic potting soil has got to be the closest comparison to my situation. I thought I could simply use sand in my aquarium to grow live plants. According to a few people who I have talked to say that I may as well have used concrete for substrate. I guess after reading and watching how to grow live plants in the aquarium, my "old school" sand method has become "past tense" for the lack of better words. So as per my particular situation, I have strictly sand as my substrate. I also have 3 angels in the aquarium as well. I read that you had removed (I assume) the fish before introducing the soil to the aquarium and then immediately put the fish back in the aquarium. I'm a little sceptical about doing that - especially when we all know that ammonia can kill rather quickly. I think my approach would be to prepare the soil in a separate container like that of a large plastic Rubbermaid container and let it sit for a few days or week occasionally sifting the "mud" with your hands in order to extinguish the ammonia gases locked up inside the mud. While I'm on the topic of ammonia, perhaps using API's ammonia lock might be a good option as well!
Wish I had seen this a month ago. I didn't know about the ammonia part of dirted tanks and have been having some of the issues you talked about that comes with ammonia but thankfully my fish have stayed healthy. I don't have floating plants yet but I have live plants in the tank
If you follow the father fish, you’ll be extremely pleased with the ease and the rapid way you can add fish almost immediately. I did a tank about six weeks ago my first father fish he calls it planted dirty aquarium, but he always catch the dirt with twice as much sand, maybe an inch of dirt that’s enriched soil, and then 2 inches of sand or double that for a larger tank than 55 gallons Mine is going wonderfully the plants are growing like crazy. It is crystal clear and there’s only about 10 gallons in the tank after displacement it’s a 15 gallon tank and I have had 45 fish and only two have died over the last six weeks. One was because the temperature went a lot higherthan I expected because I live in South America and I was using very intense LED light too close to the surface
hey ! i am one of those foolish newbies on the learning curve right now i got a 10 gallon tank with like half an inch of gravel as the only substrate💀 So i was thinking could i just add an inch of potting/garden soil over the gravel and then cap it up with 2 inch sand?? or do i have to remove the gravel first? i would end up having like almost 4 inches of substrate by this...would this be an issue? thanks
Would using top soil be better? I’m new to the fish hobby but come from the snake keeping hobby. For my ball python I used to use top soil for a bit because it didn’t have the little white balls in it like potting soil does
Hola ~ i just found your channel because i want to do a dirt tank . your video really helped me decide on which substrate to use Thank You . oh and i noticed that you have Pothos in your tanks i thought Pothos hated to have wet feet because mine which are potted hate being in to much moisture i guess the fish waste keeps them happy . again Thank you for info i've learned a lot ~ God Bless ~
Please help! I Put organic soil 1" at the bottom of the tank, then I added the washed sand 2" on top of the soil. But I forgot to wet the soil before adding the sand & the sand has turned little brown. Is this normal? I know this was an error, but is it fixable without starting over? I have no intentions on putting plants or fish in the tank for months, the only thing running in the tank is a sponge filter. The water itself is fairly clear, very little cloudiness. Would a water change help with the discolored sand? Please advise, any help is greatly appreciated.
How far into the dirt cap do you put the plants. Do you put the plants just into the cap so the roots grow down into the bottom substrate?, or do you go through the cap and plant the plants directly into the bottom layer substrate?
hey , i have prepared a dirted 10 gallon tank but the problem is i have comparatively low wat light (only 10 watts for 10 gallon) so can u suggest some hardy stem plants that i can plant in there in the low light? thanks
I think you should try less dirt and more sand. 2 inch of sand or a little more. That caps your dirt. You shouldn't be getting anything out of the dirt into the tank.
hey , i have prepared a dirted 10 gallon tank but the problem is i have comparatively low wat light (only 10 watts for 10 gallon) so can u suggest some hardy stem plants that i can plant in there in the low light? thanks
I created a tank with soil and sand but forgot to wet the soil before covering it with the sand, I don't intent to do anything with the tank for at least week. Will I have an issue when it comes to planting?
Potting mix has pearlite in it to help keep it from getting compacted and to drain well. Wouldn't you want more of just an outdoor gardening soil that doesn't have pearlite in it?
coarser is better than finer when it comes to growing plants i find. It doesnt really matter that much though, just finer sand can choke out some plants roots but the sand in of itself doesnt effect the aquarium water in anyway if thats what you are worried about.
How to add soil substrate into the existing established fish tank ? My plants are not doing well with my current stone gravel tank, and I am thinking to add soil substrate for better plant survival and growth. I feel it could be risk to add 2 - 3 inches of soil substrate all in once to cover the bottom. I plan just to add a few plants in small soil pots to reduce risk for the fishes in my current tank. Will that work ?
How come you use so much soil? I’m trying half an inch of soil when wet, 1 inch when dry (maybe more because there’s more under the black bar) and then capping with pool filter sand
I use Coast of Maine stonington blend to grow my cannabis. I have enough left from my last grow to setup a 5 gallon betta tank. Is that soil okay to use? Or should I save it for future grows and get something else?
everything i have seen suggests using 2:1 cap:dirt ratio. so for an inch of dirt you'ld cap with 2 inches of sand. deeper subtrates are better though so i wouldn't worry about that, if concerned about how the deep substrate looks from the front viewing area you can use less up front and more in the back as the bulk of your plants are in the back anyway can either bank and have it slope or (i prefer) can make like a retaining wall with your rocks/other hardscape fill the back while keeping the front low. with the wall you can build it giving more options for shaping your stems planting area. tip: use cotton or tissue paper and super glue to fill in the gaps of the retaining wall since the dirt is higher you don't want it bleeding through the wall you built to hold it) ;)
Tried a dry start for carpeting plants recently in my first dirt tank. The plants grew well, till I added water lol. But my pertinent question would be how long can one expect brown water in the tank? I'm guessing if I did a water change every day it would clear up quicker, but I have to idea how long to budget.
I believe , if you started dry, the pants aren't used to doing their business in water. So they need time to adjust to the hydro. I'd cut the leaves way back to encourage new growth in their now aquatic environment. This will help the roots grow strong too
@@ashleys562 I've seen dieback before, this was them just dying. It's been well over a month and nothing has come back up. Granted they were cheapie Amazon seeds, but I doubt I'll try the dry method again.
@@blackc1479 I guess I meant, one should cut the leaves that are acclimated to air back before submerging them in H2O. Sorry you lost all your work regaurdless of cause. That sucks!
@@ashleys562 hmm, worth a try. Just resealed my 55 and 16. Might try it on the 16 since I need to get the big tanks residents back in there. Already lost an 8-9" Chinese alge eater due to having to put him in our 30.
hey , i have prepared a dirted 10 gallon tank but the problem is i have comparatively low wat light (only 10 watts for 10 gallon) so can u suggest some hardy stem plants that i can plant in there in the low light? thanks
I just made a dirted tank I messed up and now every time I try an put new plants in a whole bunch of dirt comes straight up n I have to scoop it with a net
wish we could get promix at lowes or HD here, use about three bails yearly for our plants. Would be so much easier to not have to go to a specialty shop to get them; but thats just what it is here.
hey , i have prepared a dirted 10 gallon tank but the problem is i have comparatively low wat light (only 10 watts for 10 gallon) so can u suggest some hardy stem plants that i can plant in there in the low light? thanks
I just did mine but don't think I did my sand that thick and now I have some organic mix floating around. Will that event go away? It's a 55 gallon tall
hey , i have prepared a dirted 10 gallon tank but the problem is i have comparatively low wat light (only 10 watts for 10 gallon) so can u suggest some hardy stem plants that i can plant in there in the low light? thanks
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Simplicity. Perfect.
Father fish. I want to set up a 20 long walsted tank without any filter or airstone. How deep should my substrate be
@@animegod1714 I believe the general consensus is 1 inch of soil and 2 inches of sand works well. Good luck!
@@rustyshackleford6092 i would think you would need more soil than sand or at least equal parts. Plants have deep roots will need more than an inch of soil to grow? But what do I know. I just started keeping aquariums-
@@quki3 Welcome to the hobby. Experiment with soil depths and see what you find. As in nature, there is no one right way.
Jesus himself
Father fish has the best advice out of all aquarist I've watch. Some channels are just pure business and will tell you to buy this fertilizer buy that etc. Father fish is honest and straight forward.
I totally agree… In this case dirt is more than it should be( 1 inch for this tank) also sand should be 2 inches… Need more plants in aquarium not just floating plants 🌱 Add fish after 2 days 😢
fully agree
I made one with Father fish technique but my tank is bubbling some gas from the dirt which has a fair odor but did no harm until now which I’m curious when this will end or if it will. If you’ve experienced such thing please tell me your opinions.
@sahindemirer it will stop mine still does it but nothing catastrophe happen
@@neklang9020 mine reduced to single one in a day
When you dumped the dirt in my heart skipped a beat. I one time did that and a stone fell out and cracked the bottom panel
Dang, I'm sorry that happened. As a newbie, I appreciate the warning, though.
WTG! So good to see more people going for dirt tanks. Your plants and aquatic life will love it. I hope we see more top soil planted tanks coming to TH-cam.
I made one but my tank is bubbling some gas from the dirt which has a fair odor but did no harm until now which I’m curious when this will end or if it will. If you’ve experienced such thing please tell me your opinions.
Thanks for simplifying this process!! I’m so tired of all the stress!
Excellent advise on pre soaking the dirt first. Makes all the sense in the world. You are the only one on TH-cam that I heard say that. I’m building mine right now as I rewatch your video. Following your footsteps. 👍🏼
Used straight garden dirt, worms and pill bugs and all, worms are alive a year and a half later underwater still going. Fish don’t mind. Cap with sand though to keep ammonia trapped in the substrate and cleaner water
So I'm building a small aquarium. I'm gonna use potting mix and I'll top it with some aquarium sand. Is it ok if I put some seeds above the sand or should I put th seeds on the potting mix then top it off with the sand.
If you keep the dirt dryer (mud pie), you can pull it off the edges of the tank. When you add the sand, the dirt is hidden. I like equal parts, black cow & peat moss for the soil. Subbed ❤
Yes, I agree
hey ! i am one of those foolish newbies on the learning curve
right now i got a 10 gallon tank with like half an inch of gravel as the only substrate💀
So i was thinking could i just add an inch of potting/garden soil over the gravel and then cap it up with 2 inch sand??
or do i have to remove the gravel first?
i would end up having like almost 4 inches of substrate by this...would this be an issue?
thanks
@@sandidsaman7723Yes, you can.
@@sandidsaman7723 onlu soil,,then sand over it,,no need gravels
@@sandidsaman7723 gravel is good for plant roots
I love the honesty about not worrying with small things haha
Thanks for sharing how you do this. I had never seen the process of starting a dirted tank like this!
thank you. best vid so far for this setup. most of the vids available are just product placements, while yours is very informative and direct. thank you
appreciate your insight
hey , i have prepared a dirted 10 gallon tank but the problem is i have comparatively low wat light (only 10 watts for 10 gallon)
so can u suggest some hardy stem plants that i can plant in there in the low light?
thanks
Thank you for keeping it simple I have stressed so much over what should I do
I've almost done the same thing with all my tanks!!!! I absolutely love dirty tanks
Looks great! I hope you're considering doing a future video on this tank as well.
Awesome job showing the step by step of dirt and sand layering. Great info.
Just tried the dirt and found it easier to put dry mix in, then slowly add water while mixing. Makes all the mixing much easier and quicker.
Dirted tanks are great for plant growth, but suck for water changes. When I set up my 50g "dirted" tank, I pre-treated the organic potting soil by dumping it in a pail, adding 1/3 of a volume of unscented, non-clumping cat litter, and soaking it all in water for a few days with occasional mixing. Every day, when the solids had totally settled, I poured off the brown water, and replaced with fresh. This was much easier than doing water changes in an established tank, because I could do it all in the back yard. After this treatment I would put the mud in the bottom of the tank, and cap with 2 inches of aquarium gravel. After about 2 years of having to do lots of water changes for the tank, the excess nutrients levelled off, and my water chemistry was much better. I ran the tank for 15 years, and had great plant growth the whole time. The only reason I tore it down was because I had to move it into another room. I decided to try a "no water change" tank for the new setup, by reasearching and setting up a "plenum" tank.... lots of videos on that. I guess I will see if that setup gives me good plant growth.
hey , i have prepared a dirted 10 gallon tank but the problem is i have comparatively low wat light (only 10 watts for 10 gallon)
so can u suggest some hardy stem plants that i can plant in there in the low light?
thanks
By any means if it works for you well…. then do it! I have a few dirted tanks and love them. Reason I leave my dirt out side on a tarp is to get all the moisture out so it is dry. Then I sift the dirt with really fine mesh to get out the sticks and what not. Put the sifted dirt into a container for easy transport and storage for later. Haven’t ever really have a problem with the tanks doing it this way. Although, the tanks that i had that we not sifted never really did well. So there’s my reasoning haha. Tank on 🤙🏻
Hello sir, did you wash your dirt before using it? Or you just put it into the tank after sifting ? I'm new to this hobby and I want to try dirt for planted aquarium cause aqua soil is expensive.
@@mr.jiakun2032 No I do not wash the dirt really no means to do that.
@@basfishermanallyear ok thank you sir
Did you buy your dirt or did you get from the yard ?
the reason why I'm asking is I have been composting
all my oak leaves into dirt & was thinking if that can
be used for a tank that has no chemicals in it.
@@raisinggoldfishonabudget7058 I did buy the dirt since it was cheap. Although I do hear that people say only use organic top soil but I have never used top soil before. I just use organic potting soil. None the less, your compost pile on the other hand sounds like it will be fine (assuming). What I would do so make sure that it is fine is doing a small tank first without livestock in it. Just as a experiment tank with plants and see what happens for a few months as well as water testing. Just to make sure that there isn’t anything harmful in it. Just in my opinion.
from Spain greetings friends, I wanted to say that now that I was going to opt for gravel to siphon definitively since 2015 that I have been with the trial and error system, well that's it; I love siphoning.
guau Vietnam bueno pues yo quería decir funciona esto qué buenas noches y que a tirar pagante amigos
The dirt mistake with the air just happened to me before watching this video, thanks so much great video
How much hours of lighting for first couple of weeks
Just started setting up a tank like this. Started to question whether the peaty potting soil was a poor choice, so a feel more reassured after watching this. Now I need to go get some plants and a few mud guppies.
So I'm building a small aquarium. I'm gonna use potting mix and I'll top it with some aquarium sand. Is it ok if I put some seeds above the sand or should I put th seeds on the potting mix then top it off with the sand.
@@wijdankhan6087 It really depends on the plant species. A lot of aquatic plants only germinate on mudflats or in very shallow water during low water periods. You’ll just have to experiment with a few seeds at a time.
When it comes to working on my tanks I have all the patients
in the world, & by the way you explained everything a kid could
do it, so being I can do the EXACT SAME THING you did, but on
a larger scale of doing 1 in a 110 gal stock tank for plant's.
hey , i have prepared a dirted 10 gallon tank but the problem is i have comparatively low wat light (only 10 watts for 10 gallon)
so can u suggest some hardy stem plants that i can plant in there in the low light?
thanks
Hello from Stillwater. Hope to see you Saturday at the Minnesota Aquarium Society AQUARIUM EXPO 2022.
Man, you have fish kingdom! It’s awesome! Thanks for this very helpful video. Going to sort my tank for the first time.
Thank you so much
For this video, I was super stressed about where to start and how to do it
Now I have an idea
Thank you again sir
Love your house and tanks /plants ! Also, the audio on your videos is great. So many videos are hard to understand. I find them muffled, but yours are nice and clear. Give your partner/wife / girlfriend a patt on the back good camera work.
hey , i have prepared a dirted 10 gallon tank but the problem is i have comparatively low wat light (only 10 watts for 10 gallon)
so can u suggest some hardy stem plants that i can plant in there in the low light?
thanks
Great video. Can’t wait to see the finished product.
How timely that I came across this video. Yesterday I put organic potting soil into my new 29 gallon, wet it down into mud and have a fan on it to help remove the ammonia. You mention floating plants to help process the ammonia. Would a large (12 × 12 x3 inch) free floating mass of Java Moss do the same?
I don't think java moss can succ nutrient that fast (?)
Well, not as fast as frogbit, salvinia, water lettuce, etc.
_cmiiw_
hey , i have prepared a dirted 10 gallon tank but the problem is i have comparatively low wat light (only 10 watts for 10 gallon)
so can u suggest some hardy stem plants that i can plant in there in the low light?
thanks
I put in potting compost, then added in blood bone meal. Then drop of water, then sand. Even after all settled if i disturb the substrate it soon settles. Over the sand i have various coarse grits, pebbles , all sorts. What with dead leaves the fish love to ferret around digging and hiding feeding under leaves.
Planted, 4 weeks later the plants have nearly filled the tank from just a few cuttings. Ammonia dropped week 4. With 20 fish in. I started 3 days no fish, then 3 Platies. Week later 3 more, week later guppies and tetras, snails ans shrimps.. All happy bunnies (or fish).
For all of mine I use a soil mix and put the fish in right after filling it up and don't ever change water and never have any problems like others say they do.
I use fox farm ocean forest soil as it doesn't have any water soluble nitrogen and has aquatic based nutrients and I mix in sand (mostly pool filter), some crushed coral, I use flourite to give it some cec value and usually use the sand but have used the red as well. Then I cap it with sand and it usually doesn't matter how thick the cap is. I have 1 tank with only a tiny sand cap and it's working just as good as the one with 3+" sand cap.
With my mix I can break the cap, which I do frequently when moving plants that have long roots, and I never have anything to worry about.
Where do you get that soil I am going to be replacing a tank soon and I want to do a soil tank
@@Calthrow I get it from Home Depot or lately I have been going to Rural King as they have it sitting outside on pallets. Good luck! And remember there are usually more roots than leaves in most plants so it's good to have enough room for them.
@@shadeaquaticbreeder2914 thank you so much I can't wait to set it up I love planted tanks
Your reply to the TH-camr here that uses organic potting soil has got to be the closest comparison to my situation.
I thought I could simply use sand in my aquarium to grow live plants. According to a few people who I have talked to say that I may as well have used concrete for substrate. I guess after reading and watching how to grow live plants in the aquarium, my "old school" sand method has become "past tense" for the lack of better words.
So as per my particular situation, I have strictly sand as my substrate. I also have 3 angels in the aquarium as well.
I read that you had removed (I assume) the fish before introducing the soil to the aquarium and then immediately put the fish back in the aquarium.
I'm a little sceptical about doing that - especially when we all know that ammonia can kill rather quickly.
I think my approach would be to prepare the soil in a separate container like that of a large plastic Rubbermaid container and let it sit for a few days or week occasionally sifting the "mud" with your hands in order to extinguish the ammonia gases locked up inside the mud.
While I'm on the topic of ammonia, perhaps using API's ammonia lock might be a good option as well!
that driftwood looks awesome! Looks like a dinosaur skull..
Simple but make sense well done 👍
Might be a stupid question but can you use eco compleat on top of the dirt instead of sand?
sweet. probably the best way to do planted tanks.
Duckweed is the real saviour.
Wish I had seen this a month ago. I didn't know about the ammonia part of dirted tanks and have been having some of the issues you talked about that comes with ammonia but thankfully my fish have stayed healthy. I don't have floating plants yet but I have live plants in the tank
If you follow the father fish, you’ll be extremely pleased with the ease and the rapid way you can add fish almost immediately. I did a tank about six weeks ago my first father fish he calls it planted dirty aquarium, but he always catch the dirt with twice as much sand, maybe an inch of dirt that’s enriched soil, and then 2 inches of sand or double that for a larger tank than 55 gallons Mine is going wonderfully the plants are growing like crazy. It is crystal clear and there’s only about 10 gallons in the tank after displacement it’s a 15 gallon tank and I have had 45 fish and only two have died over the last six weeks. One was because the temperature went a lot higherthan I expected because I live in South America and I was using very intense LED light too close to the surface
I like your neon pothos. I can not get mine to look that bright.
Is miracle grow organic choice safe for my 10 gallon planted aquarium?
this has been awesome. perfect and exactly what i needed
What about using water conditioner to remove chlorine and ammonia?
where do you get that black profile on the edge of your aquarium?
Nice soil. My organic is always loaded with bark.
hey ! i am one of those foolish newbies on the learning curve
right now i got a 10 gallon tank with like half an inch of gravel as the only substrate💀
So i was thinking could i just add an inch of potting/garden soil over the gravel and then cap it up with 2 inch sand??
or do i have to remove the gravel first?
i would end up having like almost 4 inches of substrate by this...would this be an issue?
thanks
What’s going on with those pathos in the big tank upstairs? Are they in floating baskets?
what kinda sand did u used? liked the black sand
Was that blasting sand?
Thanks for your time.
Now in setting up a dirt tank, do I need to use a sponge filter or can I use a filter that hangs on the back ?
I'm wondering what you use for the black background on the glass? Thanks.
Would using top soil be better? I’m new to the fish hobby but come from the snake keeping hobby. For my ball python I used to use top soil for a bit because it didn’t have the little white balls in it like potting soil does
Hola ~ i just found your channel because i want to do a dirt tank . your video really helped me decide on which substrate to use Thank You . oh and i noticed that you have Pothos in your tanks i thought Pothos hated to have wet feet because mine which are potted hate being in to much moisture i guess the fish waste keeps them happy . again Thank you for info i've learned a lot ~ God Bless ~
If you’re not going to have plants, but just a couple large goldfish, is a dirt tank (with sand over) recommended? Thanks
No
why would you have dirt in the tank if you arent going to grow plants lol
Great video! Thank you!
I need that floating plant ultimate mix list!
Please help! I Put organic soil 1" at the bottom of the tank, then I added the washed sand 2" on top of the soil. But I forgot to wet the soil before adding the sand & the sand has turned little brown. Is this normal? I know this was an error, but is it fixable without starting over? I have no intentions on putting plants or fish in the tank for months, the only thing running in the tank is a sponge filter. The water itself is fairly clear, very little cloudiness. Would a water change help with the discolored sand? Please advise, any help is greatly appreciated.
How far into the dirt cap do you put the plants. Do you put the plants just into the cap so the roots grow down into the bottom substrate?, or do you go through the cap and plant the plants directly into the bottom layer substrate?
Just into the sand. The roots will find the soil, and that way you don't risk letting soil out into the water.
@@ashenwalls3558 that's pretty much what I did but don't think I went far enough into the sand with some..
hey , i have prepared a dirted 10 gallon tank but the problem is i have comparatively low wat light (only 10 watts for 10 gallon)
so can u suggest some hardy stem plants that i can plant in there in the low light?
thanks
I think you should try less dirt and more sand. 2 inch of sand or a little more. That caps your dirt. You shouldn't be getting anything out of the dirt into the tank.
hey , i have prepared a dirted 10 gallon tank but the problem is i have comparatively low wat light (only 10 watts for 10 gallon)
so can u suggest some hardy stem plants that i can plant in there in the low light?
thanks
I created a tank with soil and sand but forgot to wet the soil before covering it with the sand, I don't intent to do anything with the tank for at least week. Will I have an issue when it comes to planting?
Did you add water safe/dechlorinator to water before adding to the tank?
Love your tanks!
Do you need sand on top? Could I just use a rock substrate in its place?
Potting mix has pearlite in it to help keep it from getting compacted and to drain well. Wouldn't you want more of just an outdoor gardening soil that doesn't have pearlite in it?
Where did you get black sand for the cap?
Never mind. I Just came across your channel and subscribed. you answered my question in another video
Hi, is any sand suitable? beach, builders or play pit? thanks.
coarser is better than finer when it comes to growing plants i find. It doesnt really matter that much though, just finer sand can choke out some plants roots but the sand in of itself doesnt effect the aquarium water in anyway if thats what you are worried about.
What are the big leafy ones he has growing out of the top of a bunch of his tanks?
Is that just normal dirt? I just brought this aquasoil stuff luckily I kept the reciept, I didn't realise I could just use normal soil in a tank.
Palmer Aquatics: Spring Mix Floaters XD I’d totally buy that!
Can I get a mixture of floaters??
Does bigger tank needs more than 2 inch dirt?
Will house plants, do, as well?
How to add soil substrate into the existing established fish tank ? My plants are not doing well with my current stone gravel tank, and I am thinking to add soil substrate for better plant survival and growth. I feel it could be risk to add 2 - 3 inches of soil substrate all in once to cover the bottom. I plan just to add a few plants in small soil pots to reduce risk for the fishes in my current tank. Will that work ?
Does any ol potting soil work?
How come you use so much soil? I’m trying half an inch of soil when wet, 1 inch when dry (maybe more because there’s more under the black bar) and then capping with pool filter sand
how do you siphon the bottom level tanks?
I use Coast of Maine stonington blend to grow my cannabis. I have enough left from my last grow to setup a 5 gallon betta tank. Is that soil okay to use? Or should I save it for future grows and get something else?
What happens if you use less of a sand/gravel cover? Does it just make more of a mess when cleaning?
No. It destroys the entire tank if you clean it. Less sand means dirt leaches into the water.
everything i have seen suggests using 2:1 cap:dirt ratio. so for an inch of dirt you'ld cap with 2 inches of sand. deeper subtrates are better though so i wouldn't worry about that, if concerned about how the deep substrate looks from the front viewing area you can use less up front and more in the back as the bulk of your plants are in the back anyway can either bank and have it slope or (i prefer) can make like a retaining wall with your rocks/other hardscape fill the back while keeping the front low. with the wall you can build it giving more options for shaping your stems planting area. tip: use cotton or tissue paper and super glue to fill in the gaps of the retaining wall since the dirt is higher you don't want it bleeding through the wall you built to hold it) ;)
@@awollsd nice
Tried a dry start for carpeting plants recently in my first dirt tank.
The plants grew well, till I added water lol.
But my pertinent question would be how long can one expect brown water in the tank? I'm guessing if I did a water change every day it would clear up quicker, but I have to idea how long to budget.
I believe , if you started dry, the pants aren't used to doing their business in water. So they need time to adjust to the hydro. I'd cut the leaves way back to encourage new growth in their now aquatic environment. This will help the roots grow strong too
@@ashleys562 I've seen dieback before, this was them just dying. It's been well over a month and nothing has come back up. Granted they were cheapie Amazon seeds, but I doubt I'll try the dry method again.
@@blackc1479 I guess I meant, one should cut the leaves that are acclimated to air back before submerging them in H2O. Sorry you lost all your work regaurdless of cause. That sucks!
@@ashleys562 hmm, worth a try. Just resealed my 55 and 16. Might try it on the 16 since I need to get the big tanks residents back in there. Already lost an 8-9" Chinese alge eater due to having to put him in our 30.
hey , i have prepared a dirted 10 gallon tank but the problem is i have comparatively low wat light (only 10 watts for 10 gallon)
so can u suggest some hardy stem plants that i can plant in there in the low light?
thanks
Hi, At The First Tnx for Info, Question: we dont need wash it Or i Hear and saw In youtube They Cook It in macrowave, We dont need it?
What kind of fish can go into a soil based tank?
Would adding soil work with freshwater puffers? Are there fish that don't respond well?
I just made a dirted tank I messed up and now every time I try an put new plants in a whole bunch of dirt comes straight up n I have to scoop it with a net
Can I just put the dirt in and sand and let the tank cycle once I add the bacteria to it?
Sir can i put loam soil? Or garden soil......
how many times do u change the water in the aquarium tank in a year?
I’m late to this but what’s the point of dieted tanks if you’re not planting a ton of plants in the substrate?
Is it normal to have brown cloudy water for a while even after water changes?
Do you add heater or not?
I forgot to wet my soil and then i put wet gravel on top, planted my plants then added water... what should i do now????😢😢😢
wish we could get promix at lowes or HD here, use about three bails yearly for our plants. Would be so much easier to not have to go to a specialty shop to get them; but thats just what it is here.
Hello sorry just came across you video can I use pool filter sand?
I have a ton of Amazon swords, dwarf Sagittarius and pathos. Would these plants help with the ammonia or do I need floating plants?
hey , i have prepared a dirted 10 gallon tank but the problem is i have comparatively low wat light (only 10 watts for 10 gallon)
so can u suggest some hardy stem plants that i can plant in there in the low light?
thanks
Hey i just have done all of the things you did and i planted some plants to but there were worms in the soil they are just climbing up what to do
I started to set up a dirted tank today. Thanks for the help!!
I just did mine but don't think I did my sand that thick and now I have some organic mix floating around. Will that event go away? It's a 55 gallon tall
Hi! So I have a very very basic tank for breeding ramshorn snails , and I was wondering for filtration can I just use a air pump?
hey , i have prepared a dirted 10 gallon tank but the problem is i have comparatively low wat light (only 10 watts for 10 gallon)
so can u suggest some hardy stem plants that i can plant in there in the low light?
thanks
Hi guys, what kind of sand do you use?
how do your floaters not get moldy with a lid on? i think lack of airflow molded mine
Awesome. Thanks for the info!