What soil should I use for a dirted aquarium?
I am preparing to make a dirted aquarium. I have some CaribSea eco-complete substrate which I will be putting on top of a layer of soil in my 10 gallon tank. I am considering using Miracle-Gro Performance Organics container mix. Is this soil safe for a planted aquarium? And will this soil be safe for cherry shrimp?
I am trying to complete this project very soon, so I need to know if the soil that I have (Miracle-Gro Performance Organics container mix) is safe or if I should look for a different soil.
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This soil contains large amounts of sphagnum peat moss, which will likely raise the acidity of your tank to a level that will restrict the plants you can grow and may adversely affect your cherry shrimp.
Dependent on which state it's being purchased in, it will also contain "processed forest products" or "processed softwood bark" which will leach tannins into your tank.
I would recommend reading up on the Walstad method and sourcing one of these soils (http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/wiki/Walstad_method#Soil_types) as they have been tried and tested by the author of the method (and the planted aquarium community too).
I made my first dirted tank a couple months ago. I used topsoil instead of potting soil because the Perlite in potting soil is allegedly a nuisance, always wanting to float at the slightest disturbance. I'd imagine that if you were disturbing the cap enough to release dirt into the water at any sort of frequency, cloudy water would be a bigger problem than floating white things.
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