Potting soil ???

Can I use any type of gravel to top the potting soil?

Does the soil leak in water while planting or cleaning the tank?

Thanks


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If you don't use pesticides or fertilizers you could just take some topsoil from your backyard. Just make sure you remove all the rocks, chunks of leaves, and twigs. I bought a bag of topsoil from home depot the other day. The topsoil was bagged locally from some company and was labeled "Pure Natural Organic". The only thing they mix with it is peat. I basically filled a 5 gallon bucket up half way with soil then added scalding hot water from the tub until there was about 5 inches of water on top of the soil(This is for an experimental 15g tank). I swished the water/mud around for about 10 minutes and a huge amount of peat and twigs floated to the surface. I removed the floating bits by skimming it off with a net (and then put that stuff on some potted plants). I let the water soak for about a day so that everything would settle and then poured off the murky water. I repeated the soaking/stirring for 2-3 more days slowly pouring off the water that had been settling for about 12-24 hours each run. I wasn't really trying to mineralize it so much as I am trying to get rid of the large chunks/twigs since I plan on using the soil for a dry start method. Right now it looks like very smooth black mud. I have a tray of 1/2 HC and 1/2 DHG belem growing right now where I use the mud as 1/2"-1" deep bottom layer capped with about 1/2"-1" of eco-complete. This is just to grow out some plants before I put them in an actual hardscape. When I use the "mud" in an actual tank I will be mixing it up with pool filter sand. I had read a post started by Tom Barr where he mentions mixing the mud with sand to help dilute it and prevent it from getting stinky:

Some simple solutions to using soil in planted tanks

Dry Start Method (DSM) to mineralize soil while your plants grow out

Some nutrients will get washed away, but not many with that system: A couple of fill and rinse cycles is not much.

You ought to add fertilizer, anyway, not depend on what is in the soil. It will get used up no matter what, so plan on replenishing it gradually.

The only 'manure' that seems OK for aquariums is worm castings.

You are looking for a more sandy-soil sort of material, not a 'Composted fir bark' sort of product. Many potting soils are more like composted sawdust, peat and similar plant based products. These are the materials to avoid in the aquarium.
Also avoid products with wetting agents, fertilizer and any other amendments.
This does not leave much besides sand. And why pay for sand if it is available by the shovelful in the back yard?

If the locally available bagged products are unreliable, then the DIY mineralized soil is a great way to go.

Have a look at my post to the thread "MTS... then winter hit".
There is a guide to using any sort of soil, though the comments make it look like garden soil, you can do the same thing to bagged mixes.

Once you have soil that has almost no floating matter (roots, leaves, sticks, compost) you can use it right away in the tank.

I would add some fertilizer tablets first, on the floor of the tank, then be careful not to disturb them. Slow release product like Osmocote is good.

Wet the soil pretty well so there is the least dust. Put the soil in the tank, rocks, driftwood... Shape the soil into hills and valleys.
Wet the soil some more, perhaps a spray/mist bottle for a smaller tank. Take this opportunity to rinse off the glass, too. Do not get the water higher than the soil.

Plant, misting often. Add a topping (gravel, sand...) after you are finished planting if you want.

Put a plastic bag or a plate over the substrate and start filling. Run the water in slowly so it seeps over the plate. This will minimize clouding.
In a larger tank you can run the water faster after it is about 8" or deeper. Aim the hose horizontally so as not to dig up the substrate.

Since this soil is an unknown as far as fertilizer and other components go, I would run the tank for a while and test for everything I have tests for.
Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate: For the plants these are fertilizers. For the fish, toxins. If ANY ammonia or nitrite show up then allow the tank to cycle to grow the necessary nitrifying bacteria to deal with these. Some soils release so much ammonia you can do a fishless cycle and not need to add any ammonia.
GH, KH, pH. If these are stable this is best. If they are changing then there is something in the soil doing this. If the soil was originally a limestone or coral parent material then the soil is likely going to make the water hard and alkaline. Think about keeping livebearers, Rift Lake fish, Rainbows...

Pri, since you are on the island and don't have access to a lot of the soils we use in the states, "wild" dirt is your best option. Collect a few different types of soil and test them out in smaller containers outside and see how the plants grow. That way you don't start a whole tank and discover that the soil you chose doesn't work well. I don't use the whole rinsing and draining technique for making MTS. I just get it wet, spread it out in a big shallow container outside (or on a sheet of plastic), let it dry, break it up, spray it with water to moisten it, and repeat. After a couple weeks you will have nicely mineralized topsoil without a lot of labor invested. Pretty much any nutrient rich soil will work well but you don't want it to be all sticks and bark like potting soil is.
Diana is Diana Walstad, author of Ecology of the Planted Aquarium. Brilliant lady. Her book was far better than any limnology or aquatic ecology book I ever had to read in college.
You also don't have to mineralize the topsoil if you don't want to. Its just a little added insurance to fend off algae blooms in the first month or two of a newly set up tank.