# Dirted tank stories



## TankPlanter (May 31, 2015)

I have a 20 gallon long, no CO2, dirt + sand, Stingray (low) light, 40g sponge filter. Most plants have not done well, turned transparent and died. A few are doing OK (jungle val, ludwigia, swords, TONS of salvinia minima). Dwarf sag is barely hanging on, lily just died. Oddly and seemingly impossibly, my nitrates are always 0 (0/0/0). I never got a 'nutrient flush' from the dirt. I am starting to think about dosing N and K. The idea that the soil supports the plants and no add'l water column nutrients are needed doesn't seem to work in my case. No algae, though.


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## frenchie1001 (Jun 23, 2013)

I had a dirted 120gal low tech. Went okay for about 3 months then needed tabs. Always had troubles with cloudy water too.


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## coco4pr3z (Jan 28, 2010)

In my low tech tanks (60 & 10) I've had very good results with mixing dirt & organic miracle grow. Then capping it with play or filter sand. Took a few weeks with amount of time the lights were on but I've gotten the algae under control.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

I had a low tech 30g with dirt and sand cap. I had poor results and as a new plant keeper found dirt rising to the surface due to planting mistakes.


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## bsherwood (Nov 22, 2007)

I just set up a dirted 55. Reason? 2 major reasons. 1. That screaming Dustin guy on youtube!~as well as reading about dirted tanks here. 2. DHG!!!!  I have tried and tried and tried to get it to carpet and I have failed failed failed...at best I get it to survive for 6 months and then it slowly gives up. So- dirted tank, swiped the co2 off of the 125 and purchased a brand new finnex II LED. If that doesn't make DHG grow I am switching to raising mushrooms and slugs!!!!


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## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

I've done 2 pico soil based tanks with black diamond 'sand' cap. 
My first was a 2-3g bubble bowl. Planted it with pygmy chain sword (and some other plants). Chain sword went nuts in there! Smothered out the other plant. Had it running 6 months the tried to rearrange/thin out the pygmies.. bad idea. Huge root system means pulling out plants pulled up a HUGE amount of soil with it. I had to remove all plants (fauna was already moved) and ditched the substrate and re-do it. Ran again with the chair sword and micro sword for.. just about year but in the last months of that year the pygmies all started dieing back. At first I attributed it to changing my light (went from vertical 13 watt 65k cfl to horizontal (greatly reduces par strength). But even after switching the light back the chain sword kept dieing (micro sword did fine). I finally gutted the tank and did just sand with root tabs a few weeks ago.

The other tank is a 2g lantern vase with crypts set up a few months ago. It has the horizontal cfl (13 watt 6500k) and sand cap. I've had the initial melt then another.. when I moved some crypts recently I noticed black roots.. assuming that means the soil is aerobic? I keep mts in my tanks but I think the betta in this one killed his mts.... On a side tangent I've read that the plants roots systems will oxygenate the soil and prevent aerobic gas pockets s the plant grows... was this mis-information? I get new crypt growth but keep having leaves die still.. tempted to rip out the soil substrate and just do sand with root tabs..


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## Pooky125 (Jul 30, 2002)

I've had fabulous success with dirted tanks personally. 
29 gallon



My fiance's 40 breeder riparium




My 25 gallon custom tank


My 8 gallon Evolve




5.5 gallon betta tank



30 gallon Square





In each case, no co2, no ferts added, maybe 20% water changes every week or two. The 40 breeder actually does best with just top offs. The honey gouramis spawned in the 25 gallon tank, the white clouds in the 29, the cories in the 40 breeder, and some pelvicachromis in the 30 square. I currently only have the 40 breeder, but in each case, trimming was twice a year, and generally 3-4 gallon bags of plants for the larger tanks, still a gallon or two from the 5.5 and the 8 gallon. I tend to under filter, under stock, and put low-medium lighting over the tanks. None have ever had an algae problem.


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## Daisy Mae (Jun 21, 2015)

My dirted vases seem to be doing ok so far, almost all of them two-ish months old now. 4 of them ranging from 3/4 gallon to five gallon. 

Pond soil, fine gravel/coarse sand cap, low-light all. 
Two have small filters. 
They do collect more mulm it seems, maybe the soil particles that get disturbed mix with the decaying material?
Dosed with excel 2/week. 
Dosed with micros and iron once per week on alternating days. 
Weekly WC varying from 25-50% depending on livestock (more for fish, less for shrimp). 
Salvinia minima floaters in all of them (less than half the surface area, remove excess weekly). 
Plants in any combo thereof - Brazilian pennywort, Hydrocotyle Japan, red tiger lotus, buce brownie purple, weeping moss, no-variety name Petsmart crypt, Staurogyne repens, AR mini and roseafolia, marimo, Java Fern, ocelot green Echinodorous, wisteria, Java moss, Lindernia rotundifolia (poorest performer, massive initial melt). 

I'm dosing because I dose my other tanks anyway (so it may not be needed but it doesn't hurt I think). 
Tap water very soft so I remineralize with Salty shrimp GH/KH+ (1/3 to full strength depending on livestock).


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## thedood (May 30, 2015)

I have two dirted tanks. I have a 10G that I am housing RCS and some snails. I have a 55G that I have housing two altolamprologus calvus and snails.

The 10G is a month along and is going very well. The peacock and java moss are growing well and have firmly attached themselves the driftwood they are attached to. I have Vesuvius sword that is producing runners and new growth. I have had 3 of my shrimp die but I don't think its the tank as all of my parameters are good and I see the three left eating regularly. The snails are growing amazingly fast. What were dots a couple of weeks ago are close to 3/8th inch or so already. 

The 55G isn't doing bad but I think I will have to redo it. While I was filling it the driftwood came loose and pulled up a bunch of dirt and cap with it. I cleaned everything the best I could and thought it was ok but there is a fine layer of silt everywhere and the cap looks terrible. I did a water change the other night and part of the change I cleaned the canister pre-filter. I cleaned the sponge in a bucket of aquarium water that promptly turned completely opaque and the color of mud, the water wouldn't have been more brown if I just dumped a shovel full of dirt in it. I obviously am getting dirt into the water column. I am also fighting high nitrates. I believe the high nitrates are being caused by O+ that came up with the wood, the cap and substrate dissolving on the top of the sand cap. I try to sweep the pebbles up when I change water but it is difficult with the plant quantity. The conclusion I am drawing is hook the filter up to another tank to keep it cycled, house the fish elsewhere temporarily, and redo the substrate taking care this time that the driftwood doesnt break loose. 

The issue with the 55G has not soured me on dirted tanks, as a matter of fact the 10G has convinced me dirt makes great planted tanks. The 55G did teach me something about patience and better planning. I should have redone the tank after the substrate calamity since I had to try to cleanup everything anyway. It would have been simpler just to redo it.


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## osmel1992 (Jun 6, 2014)

Pooky125 said:


> I've had fabulous success with dirted tanks personally.
> 29 gallon
> 
> 
> ...


Hey pooky125 did you mostly keep the same kind of plants in the tanks I see a lot of crypts and what type of lights have you used on those tanks?
P.s tanks look awsome 

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk


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## Fish Em (Jul 3, 2015)

I did dirt my 10, not really understanding anything about plants except plants like dirt, right? I also put in some miracle gro pellets, which I think made a difference. My plants grew about 300% better than rocks substrate. Until I moved All the fish out.
Then my plants started getting holes in the leaves and grew a little more frail when I trimmed them.
6 months later I am dosing k and Fe

In my 20 gallon, it was a disaster. Dirt ended up everywhere. 2 of my fish kept getting reoccurring bacteria infections and fin rot. I did not add any fertilizers and so my plants grew tall but shreddy looking. I tore it down and an dosing root tabs and k and fe.

I put my plants before and after dirt in my 10 gallon. The palm tree looking one is water wisteria. You see results right away but looks like it is a crash and burn kind of route at times.

Bump:


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## Pooky125 (Jul 30, 2002)

Thanks!

Yeah, I mostly keep to the same groups of plants. These tanks all run over the last 10-ish years, and have been using clippings and cuttings from one to the next. So, something like 8 or 9 species of crypts, anubias, bolbitis, wisteria, anacharis, hyrophilias, dwarf sag, vals, mosses, java ferns, and a few of the rotalas and a ludwigia now and then. I've also had good luck with Naja Grass, but I really hate trimming stem plants. My tanks only get trimmed about once every 6 months as they currently stand, that seems to work out well for me. 

The lighting was usually just what I had laying around. 

On the 29, it was a double T5 fixture, with 3 year old bulbs, one of which burnt out at one point. Took me about 3 weeks to notice. 

The riparium has 4 90 watt Par38 LED bulbs, in clamp fixtures. They're set about 2.5 feet over the tank, to keep the riparium plants happy. 

The 25 gallon square tank had 3 seperate single bulb t8 fixtures over it. I'm honestly not sure how old the bulbs were, but I had it setup for 3ish years and never bought new ones.

The evolve started with the stock lighting, but after the LED's went out in it, I swapped to a 27 watt PC fixture.

The 5.5 also used the 5.5 watt PC fixture. 

The 30 square used 2 2 2bulb t5 fixtures.


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## HDBenson (Jan 26, 2015)

I've had good experiences so far with dirt substrates. My first two I did set up as Walstads to-the-t. These had great growth; however, I just didn't like them that much! BUT, no algae to speak of. In the 10g I eventually had so much emergent growth from the Myriophyllum and L. palustris as well as L. minor and floating Hydrocotyle that even with 10 T. heteromorpha, 6 G. affinis, 3 E. zonatum and 3 P. wingei and the tank just NEVER had algae!

10g 2x 15w 6500k t8, siesta photo period:
Day 1


Three months no dosing, no WC(past initial break in)


20g long, 2x 17w 6500k t8, siesta photo period, only photo I could find of this one, c. 3 months, no WC, no dosing:


Then, I switched to MTS.
28g BF, 3x 13w 6500k spiral CFL, siesta, no dosing/wc:


To this,


Then I upped the lighting(4x 13w 6500k spiral CFL, siesta) and started dosing daily Excel, Leaf Zone and micros, then after an initial battle with GW fixed by a series of 30% PWCs over a week:

And now pretty much what it currently looks like(picture 3ish months old now, stopped taking pics of this tank) the lighting and my phone don't do the colors justice:

More true to life color:


And my other 28g BF a few months back, recently broke down to make space. 2x23w 6500k spiral CFL, siesta, micros only every other day, kitty litter cap:


10g 2x 15w 6500k t8, siesta, KL cap, excel and micros:


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## sprucetree (Nov 5, 2008)

I love dirted aquariums. Have always had good growth and minimal algae. I like to supplement with root tabs, o+. The last 3 aquariums I have put together have been pure worm casting. Love the stuff


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## Wilderman204 (Mar 5, 2015)

There is dirt under the flourite in this .5 gallon cube
Dirt in my 55 as well. Ran a 20gallon for 11months before tearing down. And I put trays of dirt capped with sand in my pond to grow aquatic plants

Bump: 55


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