Dirt As A Substrate

[waterdrop]

potting soil is dirt except in a pot

Are you sure you've got the right dirt on that?

 

[OldMan47]

The potting soil is a mix of mostly organic materials like peat moss and compost from the gardening store. The soil from my back yard is mostly clay and although its fertile, I would not know how to treat it before using it. I was not ready to stink up my house to try this experiment and that's the straight dirt in my opinion.

 

[waterdrop]

The potting soil is a mix of mostly organic materials like peat moss and compost from the gardening store. The soil from my back yard is mostly clay and although its fertile, I would not know how to treat it before using it. I was not ready to stink up my house to try this experiment and that's the straight dirt in my opinion.

Wow, but it really is the same stuff you put in the garden! Do you bake it first or something? And the sand really holds it down mostly? I've been sort of wondering about this since I saw the Walstad stuff and other references.. do you think its sort of a matter, mentally, of getting over the fear that clouds of black water will overtake your aquarium when the bottom is disturbed?

 

[the biffster]

what about aquatic loam like what they use in ponds for the baskets what Lilly's and reeds are grown in it dont seem
to do any harm to the pond fish so it might work in a tank

 

[waterdrop]

Biff, is there a distinction between aquatic loam and potting soil?

 

[billy0510]

Loam is just a classification of soil. Its a soil with an even concentrate of silt, sand, and clay. like a clay loam will have more clay but good amount of the others a silty clay loam will have more clay and silt then sand and so on. Most potting soil is manufactured soil, a sandy loam with added compost. Personally i have never tried any in my tank but i have read of loam soils that wont cloudy the tank and will sink?

 

[waterdrop]

Loam is just a classification of soil. Its a soil with an even concentrate of silt, sand, and clay. like a clay loam will have more clay but good amount of the others a silty clay loam will have more clay and silt then sand and so on. Most potting soil is manufactured soil, a sandy loam with added compost. Personally i have never tried any in my tank but i have read of loam soils that wont cloudy the tank and will sink?

Thanks Billy! You must be a real gardener! Thank you for coming clean on the dirt about dirt.

Unfortunately for you, the better the teacher the more the schoolboy raises his hand... I understand (at least I think I do) that compost is decomposing organic matter but now you've made me think about what might be the average mix between organic and inorganic in gardening soil (ie. what percentage of each.) My guess is there must be all sorts out there in the world but a "good" soil would be the right mix for a particular purpose. (Sounds stupid now that I've written it.) What is silt? What is clay? Sand is mainly silica but are these others also mainly inorganic?

Ah, well, but this is the great thing about putting plants and fish in a little box of water and staring at it, just when you are happy that its simple enough to work, you think about it more and it seems more complicated than ever!

 

[rabbut]

Unsure of clay, but Silt is mainly organic. It is rotted leaf litter, and other rubish that has found its way into a damp place, and remained there untill it's rotted some what. This is good plant wise, as it is nutrient rich. Can lead to algea problems though, if it is in too higher quantities.

HTH
Rabbut

 

[OldMan47]

The suggestion from Biff to use the same stuff that is used in ponds is one I have seen before. When people are having trouble or are concerned about using potting or garden soil, they are often referred to the pond plant soil as a good substitute that is intended to be used under water. I chose not to buy it because it was so expensive compared to ordinary potting soil. There was no sterilizing involved in my experiment with potting soil. I started with an empty tank, poured in a layer of the same potting soil you would use for house plants (no fertilizer added). Once I had a nice layer of the stuff, I took ordinary sand and poured it over the top in a uniform layer about an inch thick and proceded to fill the tank with water. It was no more cloudy than you would expect with just the layer of sand and it cleared up by the next day with my filter running. It does take a little extra care when doing water changes to avoid disturbing the potting soil under the sand but its not all that difficult. So far my plants and fish are doing fine but as I said up front, this is an experiment for me.