Randall

Here is a pic of my newly planted 10 gallon.It has pressurized CO2,20 watts of T5 HO lighting,and soil under the gravel.I just planted it yesterday,and moved the fish back in today.
http://i361.photobucket.com/albums/o...n/P8230003.jpg

joy613

What type of soil and how much did you use? It looks great now! I would like to see an update once your plants start filling in.

Lucy

I love it! I think I commented on it in another thread. It looks larger than a 10g and a fun place for fish.

COBettaCouple

Yea, that's off to a great start already.

clinton1621

Looks great
Do you need to replace the soil after the nutrients are used up in it, that has been my main drawback about using it

Randall

I used about 2 inches of miracle grow potting soil,then put 2 inches of gravel on top of that.I will post updates as soon as it fills in some more.

Randall

No you do not have to replace it.If you have juiced CO2,and if you start out with half doses of Flourish,then work up to full doses,the plants really won't take up much nutrients from the soil anyway,but I am sure they use some,and will eventually use all of it from the soil.But by haveing CO2,and daily ferts added,when the nutrients from the soil are exhausted this should not affect your plants.The soil really helps rooted plants get a good root systems going.
Just like house plants,you will need to fertilize your underwater gardens as well.

Butterfly

Great looking tank! What fish are going into/are in this tank ?
I understand Miracle Gro Potting Soil has fertilizers already in it, will this cause a problem(algae bloom) if it's disturbed?
Carol

Randall

It shouldn't.All potting soil has ferts in it.Using it in aquariums is just cheaper that using aquarium substrates that are marketed for planted tanks.Those have ferts in them also,but just cost more than potting soil.
As far as algae growth,what you are trying to accomplish is to have the lighting,the added ferts and CO2 used up by the plants by the time the lights go off and photosynthesis stops.So if the plants don't use up the nutrients,then algae may become a problem.So there is a balance that needs to be found with the lighting,CO2 and ferts so that the plants are using all of these,and starving off all of the algae spores before they have a chance to grow.I am not the best one to explain how to do this and exactly how it works,but I hope that gave some kinda of idea into how planted tanks should have less algae then unplanted ones.It has neon and glowlight tetras in it.They are hard to catch on camera though!

Butterfly

There is a soil for ponds and aquariums called but I can't at the moment think of the name. Miracle Gro works great for terrestrial plants but didn't know you could use it in aquaria. Thats cool. Since you don't have any diggers in there there's no danger of it being mixed into the water column. Keep us posted, we would love to see it grow out
carol

Randall

I will keep posting on it as it grows out.And as long as you cover the soil with some type of gravel,it is a cheaper opition than the more expensive planted aquarium types of substrate,I can't think of any of the names right now either,lol.Just make sure to fill the tank slowly when you first fill it up.Pouring in into a bowl or saucer works best.And it doesn't have to be Miracle Grow,any potting soil will work.I just happened to have Miracle Grow when I did this.Here are some pics as I was doing this.I also painted the background,thought it would be easier than taping them on.
http://i361.photobucket.com/albums/o...8220078_01.jpg

http://i361.photobucket.com/albums/o...8220083_01.jpg

http://i361.photobucket.com/albums/o...8220084_01.jpg

Coryd55

As long as it doesn't have the fertilizers or those styro balls in it, any soil should be fine.

Angelfish220 did something similar to this. Looking forward to seeing yours growout