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dirt for plants

5K views 15 replies 7 participants last post by  Byron 
#1 ·
i was looking at pictures of fish tanks and saw some heavily planted tanks and i belive the substare look like dirt and has grass growing all over it
can u have dirt in a tank and have it hold grass?
 
#2 ·
To be safe, no on the dirt. Regular dirt (soil) would be mud under water, and be constantly stirred up by water movement and fish (like it is in a river or creek, if you've ever tossed a rock into the water up comes a cloud of muck), not to mention it would be impossible to clean. I have read about some aquarists who put a layer of soil (but this is cleaned and specially prepared soil, not dirt dug from outside that may contain all sorts of undesirable pathogens) with a layer of gravel or sand over it. I suspect that what you are actually seeing is a planted tank substrate like eco-complete. Some of these can be in the form of gravel or sand that closely resembles "dirt" in appearance and are very authentic.

As for the grass, that is an aquatic plant not ordinary grass; common grass will not grow under water for the same reason as any true land plant will not grow permanently under water.
 
#3 ·
I have no idea what the plant is that looks like grass but the dirt might well be dirt. If you follow the advice of Diana Walstad, you will use either potting soil or garden soil covered by gravel as a substrate in a naturally planted tank. I have one set up about a year ago with potting soil. I went to a local Walmart and bought the cheapest potting soil that they had. I placed a 1 inch layer in the bottom of my tank and covered it with what might be called coarse sand or fine gravel to another inch of depth. I soaked the potting soil well before I added any more water then planted all the plants that I had available. Once planted I gently brought the tank water level all the way up and put a sponge filter with a power head into the tank. After that I deviated from the Walstad method and cycled my sponge filter before adding any fish. If I had followed the standard approach, I would have added the plants and fish all at once.
The only thing special about the potting soil is that you want the stuff with no added fertilizers. If I had garden soil that I knew had not had any poisons or ferts added, I would have used that instead but my yard was farm ground not all that long ago.
 
#4 ·
The grass is probably dwarf hairgrass (Eleocharis vivipara) or microsword (Lilaeopsis sp.). Dwarf hairgrass is a much better foreground, microsword doesn't grow as dense and is more suited for the midground.
 
#5 · (Edited)
This tank has Miracle Grow potting soil,with black aquarium gravel on top.The "grass" is dwarf hairgrass.I have pics of the initial set up.From an empty tank,to full of water and plants.Let me know if you want to see them.This pic was took right after I pruned and cleaned it.It is usually much fuller.Sorry about the water spots on the glass.


 
#8 ·
Using soil in planted aquariums is a very common practice.It is a cheaper alternative to buying Eco complete,and substrates of that nature.People often use kitty litter mixed in with soil as well.Whether it is just plain ol' dirt,or potting soil with lots of ferts like I did,it needs to be capped with gravel or sand,or you will have a mess.The only problem I had with using the Miracle Grow soil,was the the water turned yellow for the first 2 or 3 weeks it was set up.I had to do water changes every other day for this time to keep it clear.Once the soil had leeched out whatever was staining the water,it was a great way to plant a tank.This is a 10 gallon tank.With all of the water changes needed in the initial set up,I personally would not want to do this in anything larger that a 30 gallon,maybe a 55.
 
#14 ·
I believe so. But the real problem is what's in the soil. As I said back in the first post, many use a layer of soil with a layer of gravel. But all plant authors advise against using soil that contains any fertilizers. Land plants require some different nutrients and/or in different balances that aquatic plants, and releasing unnecessary "nutrients" into the aquarium is not good.

The original question asked about soil as a substrate, which one must assume may have meant sole substrate, and fortunately no one since is suggesting that.
 
#15 ·
organic potting soil would indicate no additives no? Ive seen a tnak a long time ago that used soil as its substrate. It was a 15 gallon with 2 angel fish and a couple really long grass-like plants. There was no additional substrate such as a layer of gravel or sand. The tank used 1 power filter with a diverted flow so there was very little surface agitation and very little current going straight down to the bottom, im guessing most of the aeration was from inside the filter. This setup yielded clear water. so it is possible to use it as a sole substrate but special care and plaing must be used to make it work.
 
#16 ·
organic potting soil would indicate no additives no? Ive seen a tnak a long time ago that used soil as its substrate. It was a 15 gallon with 2 angel fish and a couple really long grass-like plants. There was no additional substrate such as a layer of gravel or sand. The tank used 1 power filter with a diverted flow so there was very little surface agitation and very little current going straight down to the bottom, im guessing most of the aeration was from inside the filter. This setup yielded clear water. so it is possible to use it as a sole substrate but special care and plaing must be used to make it work.
Well, almost anything is possible. Most of us advocate weekly partial water changes, but there are some aquarists (quite a few I understand) who never change any water, have no filters, and have (supposedly) healthy fish. I don't doubt that approach may work, but on this forum I would not suggest that approach to someone who may not have the experience to manage it properly--and for most of the time I've no idea what level of understanding others have. In another thread (or another forum maybe) someone said it was OK to maintain rift lake cichlids in a tank with acidic water at pH 6.6 and no hardness. Well, maybe his fish were healthy, maybe not. I certainly would not tell anyone to do this, in my opinion it is only asking for disaster. Not that using soil is a disaster, but what a mess in the wrong hands. And the nutrients into the water is a very real issue, according to every plant authority I've read. The person with a soil substrate will probably next be asking for help in cleaning up exploding algae.

All of us, myself included, must never forget that the fish are in a closed environment, and when we do something to any part of that system, it may, or more likely will, have an effect all along the way, and untimately to the fish. Unless one has the knowledge to know what those impacts will be, and how to deal with them, experimenting or straying from the tried and true should be done cautiously.
 
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