Eco-Complete + Dirt

[Tait_007]

I have a 75 gallon aquarium that I’m looking to scape with plants. From all the research I’ve done I have seen great results with dirted aquariums. I also heard that Chris from FFT likes to cap off his dirt layer with an aqua soil. I personally have used Eco-Complete with root tabs in a 30 gallon and plant are growing ok but not great. I’m hoping that maybe capping a dirted layer with Eco-Complete would be a great thing to do. However, I’ve heard from DustinsFishTanks that if you do this your plants will die. I don’t have any experience with dirted tanks so I would like to hear from others to see what I can do. 

TLDR: I really would like to cap off a dirted layer with Eco-Completed for this tank I’m about to start working on and would like to hear form people with some experience in this about what to do as I’ve heard that this combination could harm plants. 

[Sleepy]

Eco would never properly cap a dirt layer unless you put at least a couple of inches on top and at that point there would probably be not much benefit from the dirt itself. From my own experience I will never do dirt again its just way too much of a mess both to prepare and if you ever break the tank down its yet another mess my suggestion would be to get some aqua soil like Fluval Stratum and mix that with the eco and root tabs and you should be all set.

[Tait_007]

I do get that dirt is kind of a mess but I’m going to college in a couple of years and I don’t think my siblings would want to deal with root tabs if I couldn’t come home to do some maintenance. Also this tank probably wouldn’t get broken down for a couple of years.

[Scapexghost]

I would just cap the dirt with sand or gravel, the ecocomplete wont lock in the dirt and you hqrdly need it with how neutrient dense dirt is.. Instead of using dirt dirt, like a potting mix or from your yard, i recommend Worm castings. Dirt needs to be broken down b4 being utilized by the planta, and could burn plant roots. Worm castings are already broken down by worms and can be used by plants immediately.

[Tait_007]

On 2/14/2023 at 11:40 AM, Scapexghost said:

I would just cap the dirt with sand or gravel, the ecocomplete wont lock in the dirt and you hqrdly need it with how neutrient dense dirt is.. Instead of using dirt dirt, like a potting mix or from your yard, i recommend Worm castings. Dirt needs to be broken down b4 being utilized by the planta, and could burn plant roots. Worm castings are already broken down by worms and can be used by plants immediately.

Would something like organic compost be similar to this? Or where would I be able to get this at?

[Scapexghost]

On 2/14/2023 at 10:47 AM, Tait_007 said:

Would something like organic compost be similar to this? Or where would I be able to get this at?

Compost has a lot of the same problems i mentioned dirt has. Worm castings should be available where ever garden supplies are sold.

Edited February 14, 2023 by Scapexghost

[Sleepy]

Honestly my best first question he would be what plants are you planning on keeping is a better place to start rather than starting with substrate.

[Tait_007]

On 2/14/2023 at 2:27 PM, Sleepy said:

Honestly my best first question he would be what plants are you planning on keeping is a better place to start rather than starting with substrate.

Dustinsfishtanks.com has a plant pack where they give you a selection of plants that would go well for your aquarium. I was planning on buying this and then I have some Bacopa Caroliniana, Scarlet Temple (Alternanthera Reineckii), Pogostemon stellatus octopus, java moss, and maybe an amazon sword or two i could take from my 30 gallon if I need to. I was planning on just using mostly low to medium light plants with no CO2 for this all.

[Sleepy]

On 2/14/2023 at 2:49 PM, Tait_007 said:

Dustinsfishtanks.com has a plant pack where they give you a selection of plants that would go well for your aquarium. I was planning on buying this and then I have some Bacopa Caroliniana, Scarlet Temple (Alternanthera Reineckii), Pogostemon stellatus octopus, java moss, and maybe an amazon sword or two i could take from my 30 gallon if I need to. I was planning on just using mostly low to medium light plants with no CO2 for this all.

If thats the case the only thing listed there that would need the extra nutrients in the soil would be the sword and you could just heavy load it with root tabs before you leave the rest will be getting most of the nutrients from the water column so it would just be put X amount of squirts of easy green per week.

Edited February 14, 2023 by Sleepy