# Help me convert to dirt!



## sadchevy (Jun 15, 2013)

Tank looks great as is. Maybe just getting some oto's and nerites would help your algae problem. Also possibly a small powerhead to increase circulation. Going dirt has it's own problems and can lead to more headaches. It takes time to get established just like any other form of tank, so might be easier to "fix" your current problem than starting over. Like I said, your tank looks great right now, a little effort might bring it around.


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## jonnyboy (Mar 13, 2013)

sadchevy said:


> Tank looks great as is. Maybe just getting some oto's and nerites would help your algae problem. Also possibly a small powerhead to increase circulation. Going dirt has it's own problems and can lead to more headaches. It takes time to get established just like any other form of tank, so might be easier to "fix" your current problem than starting over. Like I said, your tank looks great right now, a little effort might bring it around.


Thank you. I have 3 amano shrimp, and 1 oto. Lost one a while ago and my lfs hasn't had any since. With the UV pump I'm getting decent current. It's mostly focused on the plants with the worst algae. But the algae bloomed when I had my ray-2 set up....cuz I was an idiot....so now it just won't go away even though I have the ray-R set up for almost a month.

But this is why I'm asking. I just do not like how the substrate looks now, and feel like it's stunting root growth cuz of the larger gravel. If I didn't dirt, my lfs only carries Eco complete for decent substrate, or sand. Not a huge fan of the color of the Eco complete though


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## wantsome (Sep 3, 2006)

I'm setting up my first dirt tank today it's going to be a 20 gallon high. I have no experience this is going to be my first dirt tank. I've done some research into it. Dirt tanks are about creating a self sustaining ecosystem. You have to balance light fish and plants. I'm still learning about it myself. You might want to pick up Diana Walstad's book the ecology of a planted aquarium. There are also a lot of video's on youtube explaining the process.


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## dzega (Apr 22, 2013)

if rootfeeding plant growth is the problem, add few osmocote root capsules or similar. just make sure they are not micros only. thos wont help much.


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## jonnyboy (Mar 13, 2013)

wantsome said:


> I'm setting up my first dirt tank today it's going to be a 20 gallon high. I have no experience this is going to be my first dirt tank. I've done some research into it. Dirt tanks are about creating a self sustaining ecosystem. You have to balance light fish and plants. I'm still learning about it myself. You might want to pick up Diana Walstad's book the ecology of a planted aquarium. There are also a lot of video's on youtube explaining the process.


Good luck! Are you doing a journal or something? I don't think I'll have a problem going through the process of dirting. I found a website that explained very well how to prep everything: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=152027

I'm willing to go through with the work and reap the benefits. Basically looking to see if someone has a valid reason to NOT dirt


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## jonnyboy (Mar 13, 2013)

dzega said:


> if rootfeeding plant growth is the problem, add few osmocote root capsules or similar. just make sure they are not micros only. thos wont help much.


I use seachem root tabs for all the plants even though some aren't big root feeders. It's a healthy tank. Just hate the substrate, and feel like it isn't the best for the plants. I couldn't keep a rangeri sword....partly cuz my loach was eating at it, but it never had healthy growth. And when I pulled it the roots literally didn't expand at all! And it had been in there for 5-6 months....


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## wrm130 (Jan 16, 2013)

I have had amazing success with MGOPM. Very very little maintenence required and the plants go insane. I've also found the plant/dirt combo does wonders for controlling nitrates as well. I have 11 tanks setup like this running between 3-7 wpg. There is always a small initial algae outbreak, but this rights itself in short order. Very stable, very healthy and highly recommended Give it a shot, you won't be disapointed!

As for canisters, I love Eheims. The 2211 should do your tank nicely.

I have a friend who uses undergravel heating in his dirted tanks. He says its especially helpful for improving water circulation through the deeper parts of his substrate. Some areas are almost 12" deep!!!


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## jonnyboy (Mar 13, 2013)

wrm130 said:


> I have had amazing success with MGOPM. Very very little maintenence required and the plants go insane. I've also found the plant/dirt combo does wonders for controlling nitrates as well. I have 11 tanks setup like this running between 3-7 wpg. There is always a small initial algae outbreak, but this rights itself in short order. Very stable, very healthy and highly recommended Give it a shot, you won't be disapointed!
> 
> As for canisters, I love Eheims. The 2211 should do your tank nicely.
> 
> I have a friend who uses undergravel heating in his dirted tanks. He says its especially helpful for improving water circulation through the deeper parts of his substrate. Some areas are almost 12" deep!!!


Yeah I'm still def leaning towards dirt! Thanks for the reassurance though. If dieting my tank makes it more stable than it is already....my biggest chore will be topping the water off haha! And I've been looking at the eheim filters. Specifically the 2212 or 2213. I'm sold on the substrate heaters! Thanks for the response!


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## jonnyboy (Mar 13, 2013)

Any suggestions on what I should cap with? I have Eco complete....and it's doing a good job I just don't like the colors.


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## Kareen (Apr 6, 2013)

you can cap with Flioramax same as Eco-complete but color is not black I think it comes in Red or brown


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## King of Hyrule (Apr 29, 2013)

Here's what I've learn with my experience with dirt'd tanks. 

Use at least 2 inches of cap (it will settled down). More is better. 

Fill tank with dirt. Use a spray bottle to soak dirt, compress it gently. 

Scoop in the Eco-complete one cup at a time. Go slowly. 

Fill the tank with water VERY SLOWLY. Maybe using the cup method. Don't just pour water into the tank. The force of the water will displace you cap, and you'll have a never ending mess on your hands. 

I'd suggest using a kitchen strainer to filter out small wooden bits in the MGO. It's totally optional and take a bit of effort and time.


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## chale (Dec 21, 2012)

I dirted a 10 gallon a while ago and just completed a 5 gallon build as well. Both have the MGOPM, the 10 gallon has flourite regular and the 5 gallon is capped with flourite black sand. I also sifted the MG when I did my 5 gallon. Truthfully both are doing great and I've had no problems with either. I did move a bunch of plants in the 10 gallon which stirred up a dirt storm, but it settled after a day or so. In all, do what you want, but I don't think you'd be disappointed with dirting. I do think you need a bigger filter with more flow to help your algae problem.


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## jpappy789 (Jul 28, 2013)

Not sure which EC you have or what you're looking for but I have the fine grained version and it's pretty much all black. Pretty good cap so far in my opinion.


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## jonnyboy (Mar 13, 2013)

Kareen said:


> you can cap with Flioramax same as Eco-complete but color is not black I think it comes in Red or brown


Thanks! I'll check it out. I don't like how Eco complete has little reddish orange pieces in the black


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## wrm130 (Jan 16, 2013)

you could try a pool supply place and get pool filter gravel. it looks pretty uniform and grey when wet


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## jonnyboy (Mar 13, 2013)

King of Hyrule said:


> Here's what I've learn with my experience with dirt'd tanks.
> 
> Use at least 2 inches of cap (it will settled down). More is better.
> 
> ...


Thank you for the pointers! And yes I plan on taking my time with this one! Gonna 'mineralize' the dirt before it goes in the tank. Still basically figuring it out as I go, but hopefully doing it right!


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## jonnyboy (Mar 13, 2013)

jpappy789 said:


> Not sure which EC you have or what you're looking for but I have the fine grained version and it's pretty much all black. Pretty good cap so far in my opinion.


I didn't know they had different grains. I'll have to look into that. I've never done much research on substrate cuz my lfs only carries three kinds and I never wanted to pay for shipping


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## jonnyboy (Mar 13, 2013)

wrm130 said:


> you could try a pool supply place and get pool filter gravel. it looks pretty uniform and grey when wet


Not a fan of gray....black or like a natural brownish is what I'm looking for. Thanks though


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## jpappy789 (Jul 28, 2013)

jonnyboy said:


> I didn't know they had different grains. I'll have to look into that. I've never done much research on substrate cuz my lfs only carries three kinds and I never wanted to pay for shipping


You might not like it though, there's definitely red specs in it. If you look at my 20 long journal you'll see.


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## jonnyboy (Mar 13, 2013)

jpappy789 said:


> You might not like it though, there's definitely red specs in it. If you look at my 20 long journal you'll see.


Okay yeah that's what I have in my 5.5 right now and I don't like the random red specs. If it was a darker color and there were alot more it would prob look fine. Just kinda looks outta place when I look at my tank up close IMO. Or maybe I'm just OCD haha


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## jpappy789 (Jul 28, 2013)

jonnyboy said:


> Okay yeah that's what I have in my 5.5 right now and I don't like the random red specs. If it was a darker color and there were alot more it would prob look fine. Just kinda looks outta place when I look at my tank up close IMO. Or maybe I'm just OCD haha


I know what you mean, although I tend to not notice it unless I'm right up near the tank or looking at pics.


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## jonnyboy (Mar 13, 2013)

How's flourite? Looking for something that's gonna maintain slopes too. Not like the Eco complete which is very light and easily stirred up. Or is that kinda unavoidable?


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## TonyK (Aug 29, 2012)

When I set my 20 Llong up I used mgopm with an eco cap. When I flooded the tank I used an airline hose to flood. IMO the biggest battle was not disturbing the cap.


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## jonnyboy (Mar 13, 2013)

TonyK said:


> When I set my 20 Llong up I used mgopm with an eco cap. When I flooded the tank I used an airline hose to flood. IMO the biggest battle was not disturbing the cap.


Yeah I have Eco complete if I need it....but looking for something 'heavier'?


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## usgetata (Dec 28, 2012)

Like other suggested. Going dirt with Diana's El Natural method won't disappoint you. Just to be sure to take time to prepare the soil, plant A TON at the beginning, and learn not to "touch" the tank too much afterward. My first tank is an El Natural dirt with some add on DIY co2. I tend to keep changing plants locations. It created soil storm every time and killed many of my shrimps😢. 
This is how it looks right now:


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## jonnyboy (Mar 13, 2013)

Yeah I keep resisting the urge to buy miracle grow so I can keep reading on this. And figure out what other low light plants I want to add. Awesome tank though! Hoping I can find a piece of driftwood that will compliment the tank like yours does


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## sadchevy (Jun 15, 2013)

For a natural looking substrate try Safe-T-Sorb. It's cheap, grows plants well, not as messy as MGOPM. Will need to add ferts, root tabs work well. Also it will lower your Kh and Ph. 
I went about 3" deep in this 125g. Moving plants around stirs up a little dust but it usually clears up very quickly.


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## jonnyboy (Mar 13, 2013)

There's no chemicals in that? Cuz it's a cleaning agent....for absorbing gas or oil spills. Looks decent though. And another nice tank!


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## jonnyboy (Mar 13, 2013)

Where can I find clay, dolomite, and muriate of potash? Anything else I should add? And I'm assuming miracle grow topsoil is fine to use, or something similar, as long as it's organic of course.


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## J_Childs (Sep 6, 2013)

When I set up my 55L, I got a bag of play sand from the hardware store(the kind in the tubing looking bags that people throw in the back of their pickups in the winter for the added weight on icy/snowy roads) 50lbs bag was about $5, had to do some serious rinsing. This was about a year ago that I set it up, and just recently really started planning a planted tank, but they have done ok so far. Anyway, back to the substrate, its a natural tan color.......like wet play sand.


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## jonnyboy (Mar 13, 2013)

J_Childs said:


> When I set up my 55L, I got a bag of play sand from the hardware store(the kind in the tubing looking bags that people throw in the back of their pickups in the winter for the added weight on icy/snowy roads) 50lbs bag was about $5, had to do some serious rinsing. This was about a year ago that I set it up, and just recently really started planning a planted tank, but they have done ok so far. Anyway, back to the substrate, its a natural tan color.......like wet play sand.


That's actually a good idea! Wouldn't have even thought of it. Are you planning on dirting your new tank? I did find some gravel that I like at my lfs. Nothing special. Brown or black. Probably gonna go with brown and more natural looking cuz I wanna paint the back of the tank black.


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## jonnyboy (Mar 13, 2013)

Oh and still Looking for dolomite, and muriate of potash. If anyone here sells it lemme know please!


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## J_Childs (Sep 6, 2013)

I had thought about dirting my tank, but deciding not to for now, maybe in my next tank if I ever get that far =) For now, I am just dosing with flourish, once I settle on a scape and get more plants I will probably just use root tabs and maybe add excel to my list of ferts.

I actually just bought another bag of sand from the hardware store. It's called Quickcrete Tube Sand. 1/2 cu.ft for $3.65. And its over next to the bags of cement and such( white plastic/cloth tube )


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## jonnyboy (Mar 13, 2013)

J_Childs said:


> I had thought about dirting my tank, but deciding not to for now, maybe in my next tank if I ever get that far =) For now, I am just dosing with flourish, once I settle on a scape and get more plants I will probably just use root tabs and maybe add excel to my list of ferts.
> 
> I actually just bought another bag of sand from the hardware store. It's called Quickcrete Tube Sand. 1/2 cu.ft for $3.65. And its over next to the bags of cement and such( white plastic/cloth tube )


Yeah I'm hoping to get the MGOCPM mineralized before we get into the cold months up here. But might need to wait for my Christmas bonus to get the plants I want :/

That's the stuff I would use to sweep in between bricks or something on a walkway to help hold them together better. I would def rinse the sh*t out of that haha!


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