How many qt's miracle gro?

878 Views 4 Replies 4 Participants Last post by lksdrinker, Apr 10, 2014

visionist

Discussion Starter · Apr 8, 2014

For a 50g tank(48" x 13") how many quarts of miracle gro would I need? I've currently got 1 19qt bag. Dustins dirted tank guide suggests 32qt for a 55, I'd assume I would need 32qt as well to get 1" of dirt?

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lochaber

· #2 · Apr 8, 2014

48" x 13" x 1" = 624 cubic inches

1 gallon (U.S.) = 231 cubic inches

624 cubic inches / 231 cubic inches = ~2.7ish

so, I'm estimating around 11 quarts minimum.

probably a bit more, depending on how it compresses, and how much/whether you sift it.

I didn't screen out too much via sifting (I can't remember what size bag I had off hand, I think I lost less then ~20% of volume to shifting), but I also broke up some of the chunks and forced them through, so if I was just using the shake-shift and dump, I would have ended up with much less.

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rcs0926

· #3 · Apr 8, 2014

You need 624 cu. inches of dirt for each inch of dirt you want to add to your tank. According to Home Depot, a 32 quart bag of MGOCPM contains 1.25 cu. ft of dirt, which comes out to 2,160 cu. inches, so the large bag will give you more than you need. As for your 19 qt. bag, it should give you enough dirt to give 2 inches of dirt in your tank. Of course, this is assuming you don't sift the dirt. However, even if you sift it, I think you'll still have more than enough to get you one inch of dirt in your tank. Try it out, and see where it gets you. If you need to add a little more, you can always just buy an 8 qt. bag for $5.

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visionist

Discussion Starter · #4 · Apr 8, 2014

rcs0926 said:
You need 624 cu. inches of dirt for each inch of dirt you want to add to your tank. According to Home Depot, a 32 quart bag of MGOCPM contains 1.25 cu. ft of dirt, which comes out to 2,160 cu. inches, so the large bag will give you more than you need. As for your 19 qt. bag, it should give you enough dirt to give 2 inches of dirt in your tank. Of course, this is assuming you don't sift the dirt. However, even if you sift it, I think you'll still have more than enough to get you one inch of dirt in your tank. Try it out, and see where it gets you. If you need to add a little more, you can always just buy an 8 qt. bag for $5.

Oops, I went out and bought another bag haha thinking I didn't have enough. Oh well. We'll see when I get the tank on thursday.

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lksdrinker

· #5 · Apr 10, 2014

I used the miracle grow dirt and opted not to sift it. However, the bags I got were predominantly sticks and bark. Had I sifted it I think I would have removed at least 65% of what came in the bag originally. So if you end up sifting out the larger material (which I think is a wise suggestion and wish I did that) you''ll probably be glad you got that second bag! Then again, it seems that the bags of dirt vary greatly depending on your region so your results may vary.

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