[MrMoogy]

Hey folks, first post here.

I got a 25 gallon 18 inch marineland cube, already hardscaped with around 28 lbs of granite (pics attached). I have the larger rocks raised up two inches by laying a few layers of cut ceiling egg-crate (really cheap alternative to gain some height btw). Tank will eventually be planted heavily, but I'm in no rush right now.

My question is: if I utilize mineralized Miracle Gro Organic potting mix as a base substrate, capped with something like flourite black (foreground will be all lighter river sand/gravel), will it maintain the slight slopes that I plan to create? The rear of the tank is going to be around 5 inch deep, soil+cap, with the large stones on the left maintaining that height.

Also, will the egg-grate compromise the nutrient exchange with the water column since it's compartmentalized into little 1 inch squares? Since the larger stones are sitting directly on the egg-crate, if I fill dirt in below and cap, will that possibly make anaerobic pockets if the stone seals off water?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[Xiaozhuang]

Flow cells are better;

I scape with MTS + cap in most/all of my tanks; you can see the slopes in my journal if you want

For example:

 

[MrMoogy]

I've seen your videos on youtube. They are very informative and what inspired me to go with soil. I looked around my town for the flow cells but could not find anything similar to what you use. They may be called something different where I live though, since I was met with blank stares when I asked the salesmen if they carried them. I can't wait for more videos though! Your tanks are very compelling.