MTS substrate(UPDATE: 12/16/10; Starting over, live and learn)

look, all you have to do is get some dirt and get it wet and dry it out. repeat that several times. then sift out the stuff that didn't break down. very simple.

i will add that the first couple of wet/dry cycles that you want to rinse the soil. like a layer of water over the mud. let it settle then dump out the water.

if you sift it first you will loose a lot of what we're after.

you can use just about any type of dirt. just make sure it doesn't have a lot of sand in it. i've used bagged topsiol, dirt from the garden, and dirt out of a forest. it all works.

as far as i'm concerned, the dolomite/crushed coral is optional(keeps it from getting too acidic). you do want to add some clay though. (helps hold it together)

edit - i still dose my tanks. just thought i should mention that. if done the way in the sticky you probably wouldn't need to.

I see no reason to buy dirt, when you already have lots of it. I agree with oldpunk that it can be as simple as soaking a bucket of ordinary dirt, spreading it out and letting it dry, preferably in the sun, then repeating 2 or 3 more times, until it doesn't have a swamp smell when it is wet. It takes me about a week to do this in the Summer, but it would take longer this time of year.

You can use it as is, or improve it some by adding some dolomite (best) or crushed coral in a very thin layer on the bottom below the MTS. You can improve it a bit more by adding a much thinner layer of potassium chloride (potash or salt substitute) with the dolomite. And, you could add a slight amount of Osmocote along with the dolomite and potash, to add a bit more nutrients, but that is really overkill.

Now, all you need is about a couple of inches of another substrate, as simple as pool filter sand, on top, and you have a fertile substrate.

problemman said:

Before this gets ugly is done.back to thread.

Kitty litter? So you said its just to light? Does it give off anything to the plants?

Click to expand...

I chose kitty litter for the high ability to retain and hold nutrients (known as cation exchange capacity, or CEC for short)...so it doesnt really give off anything, it just stages the nutrients for the plants (IMO/understanding)

I figured if I put nutrients (Osmocote plus) on the glass bottom, add a thick ~2" layer of kitty litter...any nutrients released (ammonia, urea, potassium, phosphorus etc.) would be adsorbed by the kitty litter and waiting for the plants to take up, so no ammonia spikes and no algae problems to date...still wish I had more plants tho

I was trying to grow some glosso emersed (but that failed) but when I moved it to this [filled] tank...it started growing aggressively after about 2days

It has worked incredibly well except for the uprooting factor (a gravel cap would probably correct this)...if I could keep them away from the plants for 2days I think it would work beautifully...Im just too lazy/busy to fish em out and move them back (this week) aka other more pressing priorities at the moment...

An aside: If you harvest soil and leaf litter from the woods, take only a couple pounds from each place. From an aquarist's point of view, it's the only ferts and carbon a woodland is 'dosed', ever. When you remove leaf litter, please spread some back on. It keeps moisture in, the tree benefits from the bacteria colonies in the leaves, and in a few years, that tree will have ferts for its use. It takes years to accumulate litter like that, and if it's removed completely, the trees will take years to recover from that stress. Don't harvest soil near the base of the trunk. There's nothing wrong with harvesting soil, but please do it responsibly :icon_smil

But that soil sounds really awesome for your plants! The darker the soil, the better, and you said it's almost black. That, fishykid, is good soil, and you've got a good eye :thumbsup: