SUBSTRATE

[ditron]

Hi again.
Im about to start aquascaping a new tank.
Is it a good idea to take current substrate out of current working aquarium & put new soil on top as I want to make hills..?
OR
Is it a no no & go for completely new soil...thanks in advance...

 

[jaylach]

I've never used soil so the following may not be accurate.

Unless using under gravel filtration, as do I, most of your good bacteria is within your filtration system, not the substrate, although there will also be bacteria in the substrate just at a much lower level.

Due to the above I would think probably better to start from scratch so the soil has all the included nutrients.

 

[noahm]

There are going to be varying opinions on this and this will be mine. I would use at least some of the old substrate. There's a lot of well-balanced biogoodness (scientifically speaking) in there that can take many months to culture. Be a little careful with hills as there can be concerns about anaerobic zones, but I personally wouldn't hesitate. I would probably mix the old with the new rather than just covering the old. There can be some problems suddenly changing the oxygen levels in an active substrate by covering it. In any case, just watch your params. I am a bit more of a risk-taker in this arena though so take it with a grain of salt.

 

[fishorama]

I've never done dirt either. But I would use cycled substrate to keep the beneficial bacteria going strong. I like to keep "biogoodness" as noahm says Test!

Hills can be hard to keep up in aquascaping without some heavy rockwork or other building blocks or some kind fencing. Good filtration tends to level it off without a lot of help. I've tried without the dirt part, it didn't last for long...

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Normally there are nitrifying bacteria in one's substrate. But they are there close to the surface. The bacteria need oxygen and but the time one is an inch deep in the substrae thare is not enough O to sustain the nitrifiers. In fact most of them will be in the first 1/2 inch.

The more plants one has in a tank, the fewer bacteria there will be. This is the case for two reasons. The fiest is that plants use ammonia faster than bacteria can. The second seem like a contradiction, but it is that plants arrive with nitrifying bacteria on them. As a result one's tank does not need to be producing more to assist with their part of in the cycled tank.

I have never done dirt in a planted tank. But I believe it neds to be uner something that will keep it in place. Next, if you tend to want to rescape or change plants, it is easy to dig up the dirt. That is one mess you really do not want to clean up. I have always relied on developing mulm in the substrate combined with using substrate based fertilizer when I had ones which needed such fertilizer.

However, if you were using the term dirt to mean substrate rather than soil, then the answer would depnd on several different factors- is the other tank cycled? Where are the fish in it ending up. From where are the fish for the new tank coming. Are you planning to have live plants in the new tank? How do you plan to get the new tank cycled before you stock it?

Have you read here? https://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first.421488/

 

[ditron]

Normally there are nitrifying bacteria in one's substrate. But they are there close to the surface. The bacteria need oxygen and but the time one is an inch deep in the substrae thare is not enough O to sustain the nitrifiers. In fact most of them will be in the first 1/2 inch.

The more plants one has in a tank, the fewer bacteria there will be. This is the case for two reasons. The fiest is that plants use ammonia faster than bacteria can. The second seem like a contradiction, but it is that plants arrive with nitrifying bacteria on them. As a result one's tank does not need to be producing more to assist with their part of in the cycled tank.

I have never done dirt in a planted tank. But I believe it neds to be uner something that will keep it in place. Next, if you tend to want to rescape or change plants, it is easy to dig up the dirt. That is one mess you really do not want to clean up. I have always relied on developing mulm in the substrate combined with using substrate based fertilizer when I had ones which needed such fertilizer.

However, if you were using the term dirt to mean substrate rather than soil, then the answer would depnd on several different factors- is the other tank cycled? Where are the fish in it ending up. From where are the fish for the new tank coming. Are you planning to have live plants in the new tank? How do you plan to get the new tank cycled before you stock it?

Have you read here? https://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first.421488/

The substrate is in the present tank with all the fish & live plants.
I'm about to aquascape a new tank & the fish/water/ filter & plants with go in a holding tank.
Then, I was going to use some of the old substrate in the new tank & add more new stuff on top to cover the rest of the area needed...
Then everything (fish/plants/water/filters) will go into the new tank...
Hope I've explained it well