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Dirted Tank Cap Advice

10K views 10 replies 7 participants last post by  ROYWS3 
#1 ·
Backstory, my parents wanted something interesting in their entryway that was both non-obstructive in the smaller room and also nice to look at. I suggested a 55gal and they were all for it. I wanted to make it as low maintenance as humanly possible, just a lazy tank with a few colorful fish and chock full of plants. The other goal was to do this as cheaply as possible.

I came to the conclusion that I would scrape together a bunch of old equipment from other tanks that have been torn down and put it all together. The other issue was substrate. After lots of reading I found that Miracle Grow Organic Potting Soil was a great option, and since miracle grow is actually discontinuing it, I got two bags for half their normal $10 cost at my local Home Depot.

So I went about putting everything together and scaping it to my liking, lots of salvaged driftwood in the center to pull visual interest, and voila, before the tank had any water touch it I was in love. But then I added water. Now I am having a tremendous amount of doubt. The tank is cloudy (yes, normal, I know) but the worst part is that if I do anything at all, the soil explodes into dust in the water column. On top of that it is EXTREMELY soft. Like, turns to dust when I touch it and feels like a big pile of ash. So I've decided that the best way to go would be to drain and cap it.

My question is this: what should I be capping with? The tank has only been set up for a few days and I did begin a fishes cycle but only just a short while ago. I have a handful of plants (what I believe to be a mislabeled lily/pennywort and a few mermaids, not amazing choices I know but I'm loyal to my LFS and it's what they had) but that's about it. I was thinking pool filter sand. I really want to minimize cloudiness and instability. My first thought is to do the following:

1. Drain tank as much as possible, probably not my biggest concern getting it all out as there is nothing beneficial in the tank right now and nothing I need to be highly concerned about keeping alive.

2. Remove about half of the dirt. Further reading has informed me that gases build up in the decaying organic matter and can make it unstable for a long time. I want the benefits of the potting soil but really not as much of the hassle.

3. Cap with a small sized gravel and scape to my liking, nice hill buildup in the back and a sloping front.

4. Add a layer of floramax/laterite/some clay.

5. Cap with pool filter sand.

6. Refill tank (carefully) and wait for cycle to start itself again.

Thoughts? Concerns? I think I can get away with this because I haven't actually planted/cycled/stocked the tank at all yet and I really want to make this easy for my parents when I'm not around. It's also running with an internal filter on one end and a fairly gentle powerhead on the other to help push the water column. Will the dirt still be beneficial under all those layers? I'm trying hard to improve clarity as the driftwood is definitely going to leach tannins.
 
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#2 ·
Normal set up is usually two layers. PFS or fine gravel over 1-1.5" of the dirt. Push the dirt back 1.5"-2" from the front glass and then slope from there to higher in the back. Then cap starting along the front si the dirt doesn't show. Use 1.5"-2" of the PFS.
Since all you have in the front is the PFS it will only be about 2" total in the front.
Picking out any larger pieces of organic matter(sticks, clumps of plant matter) will minimize any decaying of it under the whole sub. Plus sticking a fork or similar object into it a couple of time the first couple of weeks helps that.
This type of sub is said to work best when you mess/w it a minimum amount.
Like re-arranging plants that would have you pulling them up from in the dirt.
I'm sure you can find dozens of other ways to layer it, but that way seems most talked about on here.
You should hold off on putting anything but plants in for a while. That soil usually leaches at least a small amount of ammonia. You would benefit from an ammonia test kit. If it does leach some, it will be cycled by the time it stops doing that.
Even if it doesn't, live plants carry some of that bacteria so your off to a good start.
Just monitor the ammonia to see if any gets in there.
 
#3 · (Edited)
Oh interesting, I didn't know it would leach ammonia. I bought some at the store based on my research on fishless cycling but it's cool that it can do it on it's own.

So you don't think the thickness of the cap will be an issue?
What about doing sand over top of the gravel cap? I am really not a huge fan of it (gravel) but I don't want to the sand to eventually sift through. Or could you simply make a thick enough cap that when it finally settled it would still be a higher level than the gravel? I don't think it would push down through the dirt layer at the bottom but hey, I am not a particle-size expert.
 
#7 ·
I have a 3+ gallon jar on the kitchen/dining room table as an accent piece. I used about an inch of soil capped with fine'ish' gravel from my fishtank. I have a small rock in there to add character. I used the rock to slowly pour my water in and break the splash. Not a speck of dirt came through. Going on about 2 weeks now. Growth is explosive.
 
#11 ·
Now to start my cycles and plant it up c:<
This comment may be a little off topic I know, but it is in regards to starting the Nitrogen cycle - I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "starting the cycles" but in a planted tank, just planting it will start the cycle. As Raymond S. said in a previous post - there will be some beneficial bacteria on the plants and the soil will be leaching some ammonia - those are the two things needed to begin the cycle
 
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