planted dirt tank

Ok so after research and opinions I've decided my 20 gallon tall is being converted to a dirt tank and I'm going to heavily plant it. It'll be a few weeks or more but I'm getting 3 dwarf puffers to go in it. So my questions are what the heck do I need to know about a dirt tank? I know all about dwarf puffers but nothing about dirt tanks and plants. I'll post pictures as I set it up too I'm excited! I've got snails hopefully setting up colonies in 2 other tanks, and my qt/med tank is cycling as we speak. And I'm starting my terrarium build which includes a 55 gal guppy tank in the bottom. Lots of exciting things in the next few weeks and very happy pets

 

I'm in the midst of cycling a dirted tank as we speak. The biggest piece of advice I can give you from my experience, is to make sure you include floating plants and lots of fast-growing plants. I have some floating plants but no fast growers like water sprite, etc, and I am having to do a whole lot of water changes to keep down the green water (algae) and keep parameters from going out of control. The dirt just leaches so much ammonia at the start. When the natural planted tank people say "plant heavily from the start", take it seriously!

I've heard soaking and drying the soil several times before adding it can help keep reduce the ammonia leaching. I didn't do it because the weather was already getting cold, and I wasn't sure it was worth the trouble (not everyone does it). I kind of wish I had...

None of this is said to discourage you. And in fact, the crypts I moved into it had minimal melting and are already putting out lots of new leaves just two weeks in. My stem plants are growing like crazy, I mean I can see new leaves every couple days. Bacopa caroliniana is apparently not the slow-grower I read it was... So I am happy with my decision to use dirt!

 

I had a panic attack when this resulted lol but here's where we are a few hours laterI can't believe the amounts of tannin leached



It's improving!

 

It should have been soaked and compressed prior to filling to prevent that. And running your filter right now is a terrible idea! The impeller will clog in no time with all that gunk.

Drain the tank completely and place a bowl on the substrate and pour the water into the bowl slowly so that it doesn't disturb the dirt.

 

What's the point of spending time and effort on something that looks that? Just curious.

 

I would start draining and replacing the water until it clears up, that way the suspended material in the water doesn't settle.

 

It should have been soaked and compressed prior to filling to prevent that. And running your filter right now is a terrible idea! The impeller will clog in no time with all that gunk.

Drain the tank completely and place a bowl on the substrate and pour the water into the bowl slowly so that it doesn't disturb the dirt.

Filter has been on for over 24hours, it is almost completely clear now and no issues with it clogging because it's not debris or gunk in the water, it's tannins staining the water.

What's the point of spending time and effort on something that looks that? Just curious.

It's not going to stay like that lol. It's actually pretty much clear now. It's a dirted tank that will be heavily planted for a couple of dwarf puffers. If u don't know about dirted tanks do some research. They can be beautiful and are beneficial for the plants. This is a work in progress and my first dirt tank.

 

Filter has been on for over 24hours, it is almost completely clear now and no issues with it clogging because it's not debris or gunk in the water, it's tannins staining the water.

Unless your dirt was made of mulch there are no tannins. You essentially created a mud mix in your tank and ran it through your filter. Not good.

Best of luck to you, but you should have done far more research on how to prepare the dirt.

 

you could use active carbon to remove the tannins, I always grow carpet plants like hair grass to prevent fish from digging and making the water cloudy

 

You have several threads on the same topic. Hopefully the moderators will merge them. I already helped you on the other thread. If you didn't read Ecology of the planted aquarium then I suggest you do now. There is a precise step by step guide on how to properly do a dirt tank. No need to soak the soil, but there is a method that yields good results. Good luck.

Edit: I noticed this thread is under Aquarium Builds... so OK, I see why there are different threads... I sometimes include a link to other threads from my build thread to avoid confusion, when I'm asking help on disease, etc.

 

That's not tannins. Tannins give the water a brown hue, not brown cloudy water.... It's mud

 

What's the point of spending time and effort on something that looks that? Just curious.

It's not supposed to look like that. He messed up. I messed up my first planted tank (but not that badly but still, not a big deal, you learn and move on.

Here's what it's supposed to look like: clear water. I dumped the plants I got into the tank for a day or two until I had time to actually plant them.


Here's my heavily planted tank immediately after planting. Notice no dirt/mud/soil in the water column. I was SUPER CAREFUL when filling the water in.




Here's what it looks like now (a year later with no CO2, no fertilization regime, just regular water changes):




That's why we put in the effort.


Here's my build thread, in case it's helpful to you:
https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfi...llon-walstad-community-tank-build-out.203812/

When I "dirted" my tank, I only used 1 inch of soil, 1 inch of gravel/sand (OK, I lied, I used more but that was a mistake.. only use one inch!), filled the tank up w/ three inches of water, added a air bubbler and left it on for 4 weeks. Yes, 4 weeks. I guess that's like "soaking" the soil as MikeRad89 suggested. After 4 weeks, the soil had "gotten used to" being under water, released ammonia etc, and I added plants. I waited another couple of weeks and then added fish. That's a lot of waiting. But I think the results speak for themselves. In my first tank I didn't wait, I had yellow water (I think it was green water, and/or tanins) and all my panda cory died except for one. Impatience -> disaster. Lesson learned.

Patience will make the hobby more fun. Impatience leads to mistakes, suboptimal outcomes, and stress and sadness, and ultimately giving up the hobby.

Or as Yoda would say: Hurry not. Wait. Wait some more. Wait again, then do.

 

It's not supposed to look like that. He messed up. I messed up my first planted tank (but not that badly but still, not a big deal, you learn and move on.

Here's what it's supposed to look like: clear water. I dumped the plants I got into the tank for a day or two until I had time to actually plant them.


Here's my heavily planted tank immediately after planting. Notice no dirt/mud/soil in the water column. I was SUPER CAREFUL when filling the water in.

View attachment 208572

Here's what it looks like now (a year later with no CO2, no fertilization regime, just regular water changes):

View attachment 208573

That's why we put in the effort.


Here's my build thread, in case it's helpful to you:
https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfi...llon-walstad-community-tank-build-out.203812/

When I "dirted" my tank, I only used 1 inch of soil, 1 inch of gravel/sand (OK, I lied, I used more but that was a mistake.. only use one inch!), filled the tank up w/ three inches of water, added a air bubbler and left it on for 4 weeks. Yes, 4 weeks. I guess that's like "soaking" the soil as MikeRad89 suggested. After 4 weeks, the soil had "gotten used to" being under water, released ammonia etc, and I added plants. I waited another couple of weeks and then added fish. That's a lot of waiting. But I think the results speak for themselves. In my first tank I didn't wait, I had yellow water (I think it was green water, and/or tanins) and all my panda cory died except for one. Impatience -> disaster. Lesson learned.

Patience will make the hobby more fun. Impatience leads to mistakes, suboptimal outcomes, and stress and sadness, and ultimately giving up the hobby.

Or as Yoda would say: Hurry not. Wait. Wait some more. Wait again, then do.

What brans of soil did you use?

 

What brans of soil did you use?

I used Miracle Gro Organic Choice Potting Mix.

 

Unless your dirt was made of mulch there are no tannins. You essentially created a mud mix in your tank and ran it through your filter. Not good.

Best of luck to you, but you should have done far more research on how to prepare the dirt.

I did plenty of research and I'm confident it is tannins. I used a generic soil that had a lot of sticks and such like that in it. I thought I got most out but obviously not. I however did not soak the soil which I've gotten mixed reviews on. Some say to soak and some say it doesn't matter. So if I messed up that would be where I messed up. But like I said my tank cleared up in a day and looks great right now. It's still slightly tea colored but not bad at all.



The rest of my plants will be here by Tuesday. I'm not adding fish for a few weeks at least so the tank can cycle properly first. I'm not new to the hobby, to dirt tanks yes but I've had fish my entire adult life, about a decade lol I'm confident this tank is going to turn out just fine

Oh and both plants have been in for 2 days and both are already showing new growth so that's exciting



Hardscape in and expecting more plants by Tuesday. I'll post my plant stocking list shortly

 

Here are the plants I've ordered: 10 vallisneria,10 moneywort, 10 ludwigia repens and 10 pennywort (all are starters), still debating what I want to carpet with though. Thinking Java moss but I like flame moss too. Any opinions on which would be better?

 

I use brazilian microswords, they seem to love dirt mine grow so quick. Mosses and dirt are a bad idea, the dirt seems to collect on the moss

 

I actually had that on the possibility list will definitely reconsider

 

I'm trying marsilea minuta as a carpet in my tank. It's only been in there about two weeks. So far, so good... I am seeing new leaves and nothing has died back. Can't give you a definite thumbs-up on it yet, too early to call, but it's another possibility for you!

 

I'm trying marsilea minuta as a carpet in my tank. It's only been in there about two weeks. So far, so good... I am seeing new leaves and nothing has died back. Can't give you a definite thumbs-up on it yet, too early to call, but it's another possibility for you!

Definitely keep me updated I'm curious to see how it'll do

 

Will do. I got sucked in by its nickname--four leaf clover It fit in the fantasy theme of my tank somehow (Narnia). It's very pretty too, a clear bright Irish green.

 

Will do. I got sucked in by its nickname--four leaf clover It fit in the fantasy theme of my tank somehow (Narnia). It's very pretty too, a clear bright Irish green.

I've been so tempted but wasn't sure so I can't wait for updates

And just to update on my progress, 5 guppies were added and about 10-12 ramshorn snails and 3-4 bladder snails. Temporary set up for now. Guppies will be rehomed to a guppy breeder and eventually 2-3 dwarf puffers will be added. No rush until the plants come in and get established in the tank

 

What lighting are you using? It's not penetrating well and I have a feeling the excess nutrients in the soil and lack of light/CO2 is going to lead to a huge algae outbreak.

 

What lighting are you using? It's not penetrating well and I have a feeling the excess nutrients in the soil and lack of light/CO2 is going to lead to a huge algae outbreak.

Very valid concern. I actually don't have it lit with anything special because I'm hoping to get a response about lighting on my thread in the lighting section. Right now it's just a incandescent light bulb which I have not been leaving on at all. It gets indirect sunlight during the day. Do you have a suggestion on a bulb I can use for my dome light? I was thinking CFL but want to make sure I get it right. So far the only algae I'm seeing in beard algae and I've been wiping it off 1 stem of my sword plant everyday. Its not much but I don't want it out of control either. I do have more plants coming as well. So wanna sort out the lights before they get here. Oh and it is still tea colored from tannins, today is wc day so maybe that'll help as well with the light being able to penetrate farther.

 

Not sure why you added the guppies to the tank with barely any plants and little light. I would be afraid of ammonia spikes. I would be patient, remove all fish and leave the tank alone for a few weeks while plants get established. You should get floaters ASAP (hornwort, dwarf water lettuce, etc). They sell "grow bulbs" at home depot, etc. I got a 22W compact florescent plant grow bulb for $12 or something a while back. Use that in the mean time.

Did you purposely add ramshorn / bladder snails? Those are a pest snail and will eat your sword. They usually hitchhike on plants, I can't imagine purposely adding them to a tank. Wasn't clear from your post. You want Malaysian trumpet snails. Those help aerate your soil.

As far as carpeting plants. I would have done dry start method with the carpet to get the roots established and soil submerged in water. You avoid algae issues that way.

I see you doing a lot of the newbie mistakes I made on my first tank, including the tannins stained water, trying to help you avoid the pain... But not sure it's working. There is a lot of research to be done that would have given you a better game plan. Good luck.

 

Not sure why you added the guppies to the tank with barely any plants and little light. I would be afraid of ammonia spikes. I would be patient, remove all fish and leave the tank alone for a few weeks while plants get established. You should get floaters ASAP (hornwort, dwarf water lettuce, etc). They sell "grow bulbs" at home depot, etc. I got a 22W compact florescent plant grow bulb for $12 or something a while back. Use that in the mean time.

Did you purposely add ramshorn / bladder snails? Those are a pest snail and will eat your sword. They usually hitchhike on plants, I can't imagine purposely adding them to a tank. Wasn't clear from your post. You want Malaysian trumpet snails. Those help aerate your soil.

As far as carpeting plants. I would have done dry start method with the carpet to get the roots established and soil submerged in water. You avoid algae issues that way.

I see you doing a lot of the newbie mistakes I made on my first tank, including the tannins stained water, trying to help you avoid the pain... But not sure it's working. There is a lot of research to be done that would have given you a better game plan. Good luck.

Sorry if I haven't been as detailed as possible. I added the guppies because the filter in their tank is dying. It's just barely pushing water. It came used and I've used it 2-3 years now myself. I'm ordering a bunch of new equipment for a few empty tanks on Friday. I switched the guppies after their media was added and the tank cycled. Immediate cycle luckily, levels steady since day 3. (I keep a few terrestrial plants in the filtration as well for nitrates. I'm a huge fan of the riparian type system) Guppies seem happier honestly, more active, brighter colors, ect and they are actually being rehomed anyways (I had them because I was breeding feeder fish for a Chinese water dragon, good friend has breeding set up now so I've decommissioned that tank and he's taking what I have left).

I have a ton of plants on the way, due to holidays though shipping is delayed but they should be here no later than next week. 40 stems (4 types mentioned above) and 2 java ferns.

Yes I did purposely add the snails. Eventually it'll be a dwarf puffer tank and I currently have my 3gal and this one with "pest" snails to develop colonies to feed. I also actually enjoy these snails and only consider them pests when they over run tanks which is almost always due to overfeeding.

I am very new to plants so I didn't realize a dry start method even existed until a few days ago. So obviously that is out now but now I know and actually already plan to take this route in my next tank. Yes of course I've made newbie mistakes. It's my first planted/dirt tank. I'm learning though and it'll continue to be a learning process but I'm trying and improving. No shame in my game, I'm a noob to this type tank. Hence why I'm here for advice which I take and appreciate btw

Oh and lighting... Yea I know. The pictures actually don't show justice. Both plants have new growth already. Didn't expect but it's evident. No major algae blooms yet (fingers crossed) But regardless I'm switching to a CFL Friday. I also have been cutting lights half way through the day for a few hours which my research says will help. I'm keeping light hours around 8.

Your advice and others has been taken and applied, I've been researching like crazy, I promise. Maybe I jumped in too quick but I've loved every minute of learning. It's not perfect but who or what is. No fish casualties, very happy guppies, growing plants... And I'm learning more and more everyday so thank you Fishlore!

 

Good to hear... Just trying to spare you some pain in case things go the way they did for me on my first tank.

 

Good to hear... Just trying to spare you some pain in case things go the way they did for me on my first tank.

I do not expect the best which is why I'm not adding the DPs for awhile. I'm expecting the worst so honestly I'm surprised everything is ok so far... I'm waiting for that "something" that goes wrong with "every" new tank. I'm watching this tank by the hour lol I know I'm going to have issues and I'm grateful for the advice I get here

 

Taken about 4 days apart. Fish going strong, plants growing as you can see in the picture and still impatiently waiting for the new plants to arrive

 

That looks exactly like the sword I just added to my tank! Beautiful, isn't it? Any chance you know what variety it is? Mine came from Petco and was missing the label.

 

That looks exactly like the sword I just added to my tank! Beautiful, isn't it? Any chance you know what variety it is? Mine came from Petco and was missing the label.

Darn lol when I saw your first sentence I hoped you would know. I have no idea. It has red in the leaves so red melon or red flame? Couldn't tell you, but I can say it's flourishing in my new 20 gal tall dirted tank. I've owned it 4-6 weeks. It went in the terrarium fish tank originally and didn't wilt but didn't grow either. That tank in all theory should have better light because it's full uv + uvb (terrestrial plants love it, it's a reptile light, heated and filtered). I decided to transplant to the dirt tank and it's only lit by nothing other than a regular light bulb in a hood/reflector lamp. If you look at the first pic in my last post you will see a leaf just starting in the middle. 2 days later it is a full leaf with stems as shown in the second pic. I've trimmed 2 leaves off from wilting. I have zero plant experience either. I'm happy with the results so far



And just to update: no plants beside the 2 yet (lots ordered and on the way) but still messing with the hardscape layout while I wait lol Recent pic..


Still dealing with tannins, not from the wood (just added maybe 20 mins before and was boiled until clean, came from another tank and wasn't leaching then). Assuming too much debris in the cheap soil so waiting on that to finish leaching before adding anything other than plants at this point. Guppies are being rehomed in the next day or two. Luckily as I'm having minI cycles from the debris decay (I'm assuming). So better for them. Snails (ramshorn & bladder) are laying eggs already (which I wanted). So playing it by ear for now. It's all new to me (dirt tank wise) but we're finding the balance. I'm also growing multiple house plants riparian style from the top. All plants are thriving and growing amazingly. Once levels stabilize I'll be adding otos and 2-3 dwarf puffers. Otos first, DPs later. Nothing else besides letting the snails colonize for DP food.

 

Ha! I narrowed it down to those same two varieties myself! Until someone tells me otherwise, I'm going with red melon sword just because I like that name. Mine is growing super-fast as well. So far it seems easy and beautiful... of course I've only had it for about a week... I really like it though.

 

Ha! I narrowed it down to those same two varieties myself! Until someone tells me otherwise, I'm going with red melon sword just because I like that name. Mine is growing super-fast as well. So far it seems easy and beautiful... of course I've only had it for about a week... I really like it though.

It's a hardy plant in my experience. I love it. My only concern is most swords grow to crazy sizes and I'm limited on tank space for now. What do you have yours in (size wise)? Oh and they grow very easily (beginner low light, low tech plant). I of course learned this after I bought it lol so I'm hoping I can keep it happy in a 20 gal tall.

 

Mine is in a 55, but up on a bit of a ledge. From my research, it seems either of those varieties will stay a bit smaller than a "regular" Amazon sword, more like 12" or so. Hopefully that is true... mine would still fit if it grew bigger, but it would definitely crowd the stuff around it a bit!

 

Mine is in a 55, but up on a bit of a ledge. From my research, it seems either of those varieties will stay a bit smaller than a "regular" Amazon sword, more like 12" or so. Hopefully that is true... mine would still fit if it grew bigger, but it would definitely crowd the stuff around it a bit!

I hope so but worse comes to worse, I have a 75 terrarium with a water dragon, which will be moved to a diy 6ft high entertainment center set up. Spoiled water dragon lol. Anyways at that point the 20 gal will be in that set up and his 75 will be a new aquatic tank. So hopefully I'll be able to sustain it until that transfer if it does get out of hand lol


And just to show comparison on how quickly it's growing

 

Good growth. Just giving you some advice here. You NEED to cap that soil with either gravel or a thin layer of sand or your water will never be clear.

Uncapped it leaches so many minerals that you'd have to have an extremely high light, CO2 injected tank for the plants to outcompete algae.

 

Good growth. Just giving you some advice here. You NEED to cap that soil with either gravel or a thin layer of sand or your water will never be clear.

Uncapped it leaches so many minerals that you'd have to have an extremely high light, CO2 injected tank for the plants to outcompete algae.

It is capped

 

Finally got my plants today!! Only took forever lol sorry the pictures are dark. Still battling tannins this time from driftwood. Gonna do a water change tomorrow and I'll get better pics.






They look a bit shocked but the poor plants were freezing when they got here so fingers crossed they perk up soon. I also located DPs so as soon as the tank finishes adjusting and the plants settle in I'll be adding a pair. 1 male 1 female.

 

Better pics from today

 

Any updated pictures?