[BioLume]

Hello I'm a newbie and I've researched planted tanks because I love gardening outdoors and fish. I just got a new tank and want to start with the potting soil I already have. Can anyone advise if this type is okay. I have seen people use straight dirt from their yard or Organic Miracle grow. But when I looked at Home Depots site a lot of folks say the formula has changed over the years and they got a lot of bugs in their bags.

The attached photos are of soil that I love to use. Can I use it in my tank? There are extras in the ingredients listed in the second photo I'm not sure about... TIA


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[thedood]

I am going to guess that will be some fine soil to use.

 

[Wasserpest]

Welcome to the Planted Tank!
I wouldn't use that. There is a lot of stuff in there that may (or not) play havoc with your water chemistry and the future inhabitants. Aloe and Yucca sounds harmless enough, but you have no clue what wetting agents etc they have dumped in there. Most of those additions may work for terrestrial plants, but not meant for use in an aquarium. Soybean meal. Really?
While buying a bag of something seems like the most logical and simple thing, I would suggest to search this board for discussions about Mineralized Top Soil (MTS) and see if that is something you can do yourself. Perhaps you have a backyard or some other area with suitable soil which is already mostly mineralized.
If that doesn't work for you, I'd suggest some Miracle Gro or other fairly generic soil without too many additions.

 

[thedood]

I wouldn't use that. There is a lot of stuff in there that may (or not) play havoc with your water chemistry and the future inhabitants.
While buying a bag of something seems like the most logical and simple thing, I would suggest to search this board for discussions about Mineralized Top Soil (MTS) and see if that is something you can do yourself. Perhaps you have a backyard or some other area with suitable soil which is already mostly mineralized.
If that doesn't work for you, I'd suggest some Miracle Gro or other fairly generic soil without too many additions.

I'm curious what is in it that would cause an issue? I noticed no manure but it does have earthworm castings which are supposed to be good.

Edit: And my apologies to the op.

 

[BioLume]

Okay thank you I appreciate it. I am anxious to get started but I won't rush it


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[thedood]

@BioLume can you share where you get that? Again I apologize if my suggestion was bad. I may get some and try it in a plant only tank to see how it does.

 

[BioLume]

It's from Home Depot. I've had it since February, and I've been using it in my pots on the patio.


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[BioLume]

I just bucked down and bought Eco-complete. Since I'm a newb I want to start off on the best foot possible.


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[Wasserpest]

I'm curious what is in it that would cause an issue? I noticed no manure but it does have earthworm castings which are supposed to be good.

Edit: And my apologies to the op.

Agreed, earthworm castings are the soul of the soil. But soybean meal, fish bone meal, kelp meal, aloe vera, yucca extract may all foul up the water. If you do some research about "Pro Moisture Hydrate" you quickly get into marketing speak and grand claims. Again, all of this may be fine for terrestric plants, for planted tanks, maybe, maybe not. Lime stabilizes the pH in soil, but will raise water hardness, etc.

I just bucked down and bought Eco-complete. Since I'm a newb I want to start off on the best foot possible.


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Great choice. You are in control to enrich this, either by adding fert sticks/capsules locally around root feeding plants, or by adding a layer of something underneath the EC. Over time, fish poop falling through the cracks will naturally enrich that substrate.