[Daniel12490]

Hi Everyone,

I am in the process of establishing a 180 gallon aquarium. I read a lot about MTS and thought to myself, why go through the steps or soaking and drying out your dirt when landscape supply centers already have pre-screened topsoil. These soils are already exposed to rain and have had time to dry. Would anyone or has anyone used pre-screened topsoil? Or does anyone advise against this and if so, why?

Looking forward to your thoughts!

 

[thedood]

This has actually been suggested before and if memory serves me well there were good reviews.

 

[Daniel12490]

Awesome! I think I will give it a go and give it a quick screen before putting it in. For 180 gallons, I don't have the patience to mineralize the amount of soil necessary for a tank this size.

 

[Hoppy]

The advantage of using real topsoil is that it doesn't consist primarily of shredded bark and compost. I still think that what you dig from your back yard is likely to be as good for a mineralized top soil tank and anything you buy that comes in a bag. I'm pretty sure garden centers that have topsoil dumped in a bin in back, out in the open, are selling real topsoil.