First organic soil tank - is my plan good?

[Doug_E]

10 gallon (breed CPDs or shrimp)

Miracle Gro organic potting mix

safe-t-sorb clay mixed in

flourite black sand cap

 

Do I need to mineralized the MGOPM?

does the safetsorb have iron? Will I need any?

Thank you for Any tips. 

[Streetwise]

Hi, @Doug_E,

For this style, I recommend 1-1.5 inches of organic soil, with a modest gravel cap. I also recommend getting this book in print or digital format. I have the Apple version for bookmarks on my iPhone. https://dianawalstad.com

I love live plants, and using lots of them to make ecosystems.

https://www.aquariumcoop.com/collections/live-plants

[Doug_E]

On 7/27/2021 at 11:03 PM, Streetwise said:

Hi, @Doug_E,

For this style, I recommend 1-1.5 inches of organic soil, with a modest gravel cap. I also recommend getting this book in print or digital format. I have the Apple version for bookmarks on my iPhone. https://dianawalstad.com

I love live plants, and using lots of them to make ecosystems.

https://www.aquariumcoop.com/collections/live-plants

@Streetwise Yes her book and other writings are very helpful and are what I’m basing my plan around. I found her article on shrimp tanks and bowls very helpful. I won’t attempt the DSM, but am wondering if mineralization is needed or not. On one hand it helps reduce algae and gets the organic matter ready for plants. On the other hand it reduces CO2 production which plants benefit from. Some frogbit or similar floating plants should help avoid algae if I don’t mineralize. 
 

She doesn’t seem to add clay or iron to her tanks. This seems common among other methods. She does use regular soil which contains iron. The miracle gro organic potting mix doesn’t list iron content. I’m not sure if adding clay material like the tractor supply safe-t-sorb would help. It may not have iron but does help with CEC. I may just get some soil from the local woods where it has a high red clay content. 
 

Lastly I was concerned about using fluorite sand. However since she uses play sand the fluorite sand should be fine. As long as it’s a thin layer it shouldn’t suffocate the soil. It is also clay, so maybe another reason not to need the clay kitty litter?

[Streetwise]

I have gone through an evolution in my tanks with usage of sand. My first planted tank had fairly deep soil, and about the same depth of sand. Some of my plants struggled. I started using a slightly thinner layer of sand, and then gravel over that. My next tank, whenever that is, will probably dispense with using sand at all.

The biggest wakeup call was when I broke down my tubs last fall, and saw how rotted some of my plants got in the roots, and the soil smelled a little bit like a septic system. Re-reading the book, I think I was choking out the soil and creating problems.

Now I want to use just enough 2-4mm gravel to hold down the soil, but still allow it to breathe.

Most of this stuff is documented in my journals.

[ChefConfit]

Your plan sounds very similar to both my 40 breeder and my tub. My mix is mineralized top soil and safetsorb capped with safetsorb. My mineralized top soil has also been used in multiple tanks so there is no nutrient leach into the water. My heavy root feeders are doing great in it, but I do dose my water column. 

My advise if you decide to go with mineralized top soil is to think of it more like one of the active soils like from ADA. It will have some nutrient leach in the begining, but most of it will stay in the soil and long term you will probably want to dose the water column. 

Walstad style tanks on the other hand shouldn't need dosing because the regular top soil will leach nutrients for a long time. 

I feel like the end of that leeching is what people who say their soil is depleted are actually experiencing, because the soil should be constantly being recharged by mulm and other decaying matter that is worked into it by your bottom dwellers. 

[Jungle Fan]

It all depends on what type of aquasoil you use as far as leaching goes. Personally I'm not a big fan of aquasoils that are fertilizer enriched and leach like the ADA, although I do have a very thin layer of Fluval Stratum in my tank but only because I wanted something that would help me even out my lava rock before I added another thin layer of gravel and then the Amazon soft belly soil that is primarily burnt clay. 

The leaching was not a problem because I did a dark start for a month anyway, and then planted heavily. I prefer to use non enriched substrate with a layer of deep sea minerals underneath, that way  I can calculate better how many root tabs I will need and how much of what I will dose depending on plant load. The porous lava rock gets nicely colonized by beneficial bacteria and helps with keeping rotting to a minimum over the years.

I know that some hate them because they can multiply fast but I've always had a few Malaysian Trumpet snails in my soil that help aerate as well. Didn't purchase them, they were hitchhikers and I only see them every once in a while. As long as overfeeding isn't happening they don't turn into an issue as with all snails.

The famous "soil depletion" is mostly an issue for aquascapers that plant heavy root feeders and lots of high light red plants and amp their lights' intensity as high as they can get it. Most of the competition scapers rarely leave a tank unscathed for more than a year, or two before they break it down to be able to create the next YouTube, or competition sensation. My goal is to create something that is sustainable and can last.

That was my two cents on soil depletion, however that said there is a lot of good to be said for the Walstad method and i used to run some tanks in that style years ago which was very satisfying and I have to admit I've gotten a bit lazy over the years. @Streetwise's journals are amazing.

Edited July 29, 2021 by Jungle Fan