Amending ancient substrate...

What kind of substrate?

Way back when the stuff I used was Dupla laterite and gravel. This was in about ~84,85.

That stuff is as old as I am, maybe older lol... I'd just rinse the heck out of it. How was it stored?

adamprice271 said:

That stuff is as old as I am, maybe older lol... I'd just rinse the heck out of it. How was it stored?

Click to expand...

It wasn't stored. It was in use. The tank sprung a slow leak so I broke down the tank,removed the substrate.

Personally, I'd lay down about 1" of Miracle Gro Organic Potting soil first and then use your laterite/gravel mix as a cap.

That's exactly what I do with my own old substrates.

Some other options would be to mix it up with another nutrient-containing substrate, and/or insert root tab fertilizers.

lauraleellbp said:

Personally, I'd lay down about 1" of Miracle Gro Organic Potting soil first and then use your laterite/gravel mix as a cap.

That's exactly what I do with my own old substrates.

Some other options would be to mix it up with another nutrient-containing substrate, and/or insert root tab fertilizers.

Click to expand...

Thanks. If I go this root I'd probably mix it in with the gravel. More towards the bottom of the tank and less as I approach the top layer of gravel to none at the top layer. That's how I mixed laterite into the gravel years ago. It works and probably prevents compaction and anaerobic conditions

I'm considering using Flourite mix with the old gravel and maybe adding back some API laterite.