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Pond mud as a substrate?

3K views 4 replies 5 participants last post by  SouthernGorilla 
#1 ·
I was wondering if mud (capped) from a healthy pond would be an effective planted tank substrate.... I have access to an autoclave and can sterlize it. Anyone try this?
 
#2 ·
I guess it depends what you are comparing it to. As is often the mistake in planted tanks, some dirt is better than inert gravel. I use MTS in a lot of my tanks but I also mix it with AS and EcoComplete to help hold it in place. The biggest worry with pond mud is hitch hikers coming with but if youre going to bake it or autoclave it, you should be fine.
 
#4 ·
I wouldn't bake it. It probably has a lot of benificial bacteria, but I would go through it and pick out any large organic debris that hasn't broken down. A book called An Alternative Aquarium by Owens was a good read on exactly this type of thing. He had a chain of thought like Diana Walstad with some differences.

Obsession is a matter of opinion
 
#5 ·
Physically, pond mud is made of the same stuff as any other dirt. So there wouldn't be any real advantage to using it versus mixing up your own sand/silt, clay, and peat mix. I would think the benefit of using pond mud would be precisely the biological stuff that would be destroyed in an autoclave. I second Red Cloud's suggestion of just picking out anything obviously nasty and using the mud as is.
 
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