DIRT Planted Tank Setup - How to SOIL an Aquarium
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- Опубликовано: 13 мар 2022
- SOIL Planted Tank Setup. How to Dirt an Aquarium MY WAY. First start by putting 2” of organic potting soil into the aquarium. Then add enough water to heavily saturate the soil. We want to rid of all air within the soil. Squeeze and mash the dirt with your hands until the dirt is fully saturated. You turn will add the 1.5 inches of sand on top of that wet soil.
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Using soil in a fish tank as a cheap alternative as a Substrate to grow live plants effectively. I’ve been doing this for years and had great success doing it this way. All you have to do is fill your aquarium with around 3 inches of soil that’s enriched with nutrients And put a sand cap over it. You want about 1 inch of sand to go over the soil. The sand is actually holding down the soil so it doesn’t become a complete mess.
Do you want to make sure that you fully saturate the soil before putting the sand on top of it. Squeeze the soil through your hands and make sure that it’s fully saturated with water before the sand goes on top of it. You should also make sure to get organic potting soil without perlite in it if possible. I find this to be the best option for using this type of soil in fish tanks.  
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Simplicity. Perfect.
Father fish. I want to set up a 20 long walsted tank without any filter or airstone. How deep should my substrate be
@@animegod1714 I believe the general consensus is 1 inch of soil and 2 inches of sand works well. Good luck!
@@rustyshackleford6092 i would think you would need more soil than sand or at least equal parts. Plants have deep roots will need more than an inch of soil to grow? But what do I know. I just started keeping aquariums-
@@quki3 Welcome to the hobby. Experiment with soil depths and see what you find. As in nature, there is no one right way.
Jesus himself
Father fish has the best advice out of all aquarist I've watch. Some channels are just pure business and will tell you to buy this fertilizer buy that etc. Father fish is honest and straight forward.
I totally agree… In this case dirt is more than it should be( 1 inch for this tank) also sand should be 2 inches… Need more plants in aquarium not just floating plants 🌱 Add fish after 2 days 😢
fully agree
I made one with Father fish technique but my tank is bubbling some gas from the dirt which has a fair odor but did no harm until now which I’m curious when this will end or if it will. If you’ve experienced such thing please tell me your opinions.
@sahindemirer it will stop mine still does it but nothing catastrophe happen
@@neklang9020 mine reduced to single one in a day
Used straight garden dirt, worms and pill bugs and all, worms are alive a year and a half later underwater still going. Fish don’t mind. Cap with sand though to keep ammonia trapped in the substrate and cleaner water
WTG! So good to see more people going for dirt tanks. Your plants and aquatic life will love it. I hope we see more top soil planted tanks coming to RUclips.
I made one but my tank is bubbling some gas from the dirt which has a fair odor but did no harm until now which I’m curious when this will end or if it will. If you’ve experienced such thing please tell me your opinions.
Thanks for simplifying this process!! I’m so tired of all the stress!
Thanks for sharing how you do this. I had never seen the process of starting a dirted tank like this!
Excellent advise on pre soaking the dirt first. Makes all the sense in the world. You are the only one on RUclips that I heard say that. I’m building mine right now as I rewatch your video. Following your footsteps. 👍🏼
When you dumped the dirt in my heart skipped a beat. I one time did that and a stone fell out and cracked the bottom panel
Dang, I'm sorry that happened. As a newbie, I appreciate the warning, though.
Thank you for keeping it simple I have stressed so much over what should I do
Looks great! I hope you're considering doing a future video on this tank as well.
Great video. Can’t wait to see the finished product.
thank you. best vid so far for this setup. most of the vids available are just product placements, while yours is very informative and direct. thank you
appreciate your insight
hey , i have prepared a dirted 10 gallon tank but the problem is i have comparatively low wat light (only 10 watts for 10 gallon)
so can u suggest some hardy stem plants that i can plant in there in the low light?
thanks
All of the beautiful greenery. Can’t argue with those results. Thank you for sharing.
hey , i have prepared a dirted 10 gallon tank but the problem is i have comparatively low wat light (only 10 watts for 10 gallon)
so can u suggest some hardy stem plants that i can plant in there in the low light?
thanks
I've almost done the same thing with all my tanks!!!! I absolutely love dirty tanks
When it comes to working on my tanks I have all the patients
in the world, & by the way you explained everything a kid could
do it, so being I can do the EXACT SAME THING you did, but on
a larger scale of doing 1 in a 110 gal stock tank for plant's.
hey , i have prepared a dirted 10 gallon tank but the problem is i have comparatively low wat light (only 10 watts for 10 gallon)
so can u suggest some hardy stem plants that i can plant in there in the low light?
thanks
Just started setting up a tank like this. Started to question whether the peaty potting soil was a poor choice, so a feel more reassured after watching this. Now I need to go get some plants and a few mud guppies.
Awesome job showing the step by step of dirt and sand layering. Great info.
I love the honesty about not worrying with small things haha
this has been awesome. perfect and exactly what i needed
Thank you so much
For this video, I was super stressed about where to start and how to do it
Now I have an idea
Thank you again sir
Man, you have fish kingdom! It’s awesome! Thanks for this very helpful video. Going to sort my tank for the first time.
Awesome. Thanks for the info!
If you keep the dirt dryer (mud pie), you can pull it off the edges of the tank. When you add the sand, the dirt is hidden. I like equal parts, black cow & peat moss for the soil. Subbed ❤
Yes, I agree
hey ! i am one of those foolish newbies on the learning curve
right now i got a 10 gallon tank with like half an inch of gravel as the only substrate💀
So i was thinking could i just add an inch of potting/garden soil over the gravel and then cap it up with 2 inch sand??
or do i have to remove the gravel first?
i would end up having like almost 4 inches of substrate by this...would this be an issue?
thanks
@@sandidsaman7723Yes, you can.
@@sandidsaman7723 onlu soil,,then sand over it,,no need gravels
@@sandidsaman7723 gravel is good for plant roots
The dirt mistake with the air just happened to me before watching this video, thanks so much great video
Love your tanks!
sweet. probably the best way to do planted tanks.
Just tried the dirt and found it easier to put dry mix in, then slowly add water while mixing. Makes all the mixing much easier and quicker.
Simple but make sense well done 👍
Hello from Stillwater. Hope to see you Saturday at the Minnesota Aquarium Society AQUARIUM EXPO 2022.
Great video! Thank you!
Love your house and tanks /plants ! Also, the audio on your videos is great. So many videos are hard to understand. I find them muffled, but yours are nice and clear. Give your partner/wife / girlfriend a patt on the back good camera work.
hey , i have prepared a dirted 10 gallon tank but the problem is i have comparatively low wat light (only 10 watts for 10 gallon)
so can u suggest some hardy stem plants that i can plant in there in the low light?
thanks
Dirted tanks are great for plant growth, but suck for water changes. When I set up my 50g "dirted" tank, I pre-treated the organic potting soil by dumping it in a pail, adding 1/3 of a volume of unscented, non-clumping cat litter, and soaking it all in water for a few days with occasional mixing. Every day, when the solids had totally settled, I poured off the brown water, and replaced with fresh. This was much easier than doing water changes in an established tank, because I could do it all in the back yard. After this treatment I would put the mud in the bottom of the tank, and cap with 2 inches of aquarium gravel. After about 2 years of having to do lots of water changes for the tank, the excess nutrients levelled off, and my water chemistry was much better. I ran the tank for 15 years, and had great plant growth the whole time. The only reason I tore it down was because I had to move it into another room. I decided to try a "no water change" tank for the new setup, by reasearching and setting up a "plenum" tank.... lots of videos on that. I guess I will see if that setup gives me good plant growth.
hey , i have prepared a dirted 10 gallon tank but the problem is i have comparatively low wat light (only 10 watts for 10 gallon)
so can u suggest some hardy stem plants that i can plant in there in the low light?
thanks
I haven't heard about Menards in years great video I still remember the jingle
from Spain greetings friends, I wanted to say that now that I was going to opt for gravel to siphon definitively since 2015 that I have been with the trial and error system, well that's it; I love siphoning.
guau Vietnam bueno pues yo quería decir funciona esto qué buenas noches y que a tirar pagante amigos
Hola ~ i just found your channel because i want to do a dirt tank . your video really helped me decide on which substrate to use Thank You . oh and i noticed that you have Pothos in your tanks i thought Pothos hated to have wet feet because mine which are potted hate being in to much moisture i guess the fish waste keeps them happy . again Thank you for info i've learned a lot ~ God Bless ~
Wish I had seen this a month ago. I didn't know about the ammonia part of dirted tanks and have been having some of the issues you talked about that comes with ammonia but thankfully my fish have stayed healthy. I don't have floating plants yet but I have live plants in the tank
I saw a hack for sponge filters. take a top for a mcdonalds cup, run the air hose through it and rest the cup top on the surface. it really slows down the surface bubbles. i love it.
GREAT VIDEO
I'm gonna do this on my next aquarium
Peace ✌️
wish we could get promix at lowes or HD here, use about three bails yearly for our plants. Would be so much easier to not have to go to a specialty shop to get them; but thats just what it is here.
I put in potting compost, then added in blood bone meal. Then drop of water, then sand. Even after all settled if i disturb the substrate it soon settles. Over the sand i have various coarse grits, pebbles , all sorts. What with dead leaves the fish love to ferret around digging and hiding feeding under leaves.
Planted, 4 weeks later the plants have nearly filled the tank from just a few cuttings. Ammonia dropped week 4. With 20 fish in. I started 3 days no fish, then 3 Platies. Week later 3 more, week later guppies and tetras, snails ans shrimps.. All happy bunnies (or fish).
Very interesting 👍
Nice soil. My organic is always loaded with bark.
By any means if it works for you well…. then do it! I have a few dirted tanks and love them. Reason I leave my dirt out side on a tarp is to get all the moisture out so it is dry. Then I sift the dirt with really fine mesh to get out the sticks and what not. Put the sifted dirt into a container for easy transport and storage for later. Haven’t ever really have a problem with the tanks doing it this way. Although, the tanks that i had that we not sifted never really did well. So there’s my reasoning haha. Tank on 🤙🏻
Hello sir, did you wash your dirt before using it? Or you just put it into the tank after sifting ? I'm new to this hobby and I want to try dirt for planted aquarium cause aqua soil is expensive.
@@mr.jiakun2032 No I do not wash the dirt really no means to do that.
@@basfishermanallyear ok thank you sir
Did you buy your dirt or did you get from the yard ?
the reason why I'm asking is I have been composting
all my oak leaves into dirt & was thinking if that can
be used for a tank that has no chemicals in it.
@@raisinggoldfishonabudget7058 I did buy the dirt since it was cheap. Although I do hear that people say only use organic top soil but I have never used top soil before. I just use organic potting soil. None the less, your compost pile on the other hand sounds like it will be fine (assuming). What I would do so make sure that it is fine is doing a small tank first without livestock in it. Just as a experiment tank with plants and see what happens for a few months as well as water testing. Just to make sure that there isn’t anything harmful in it. Just in my opinion.
I need that floating plant ultimate mix list!
Nice I think I might try that
I started to set up a dirted tank today. Thanks for the help!!
that driftwood looks awesome! Looks like a dinosaur skull..
I like your neon pothos. I can not get mine to look that bright.
That watering can is very popular I have the same exact one
Might be a stupid question but can you use eco compleat on top of the dirt instead of sand?
Nice
Awesome video bro. It's a simple setup but, its definitely not as easy as you made it seem. I guess you learned from trial and error.
How is it not as easy as he made it seem? It really is that straight forward
@@donkeycheese9104 Forreal. This the most ‘natural’ setup you can have.
hey , i have prepared a dirted 10 gallon tank but the problem is i have comparatively low wat light (only 10 watts for 10 gallon)
so can u suggest some hardy stem plants that i can plant in there in the low light?
thanks
What’s going on with those pathos in the big tank upstairs? Are they in floating baskets?
I say this with love- scout from tft teaches me how to set up a dirted aquascape
Now in setting up a dirt tank, do I need to use a sponge filter or can I use a filter that hangs on the back ?
Palmer Aquatics: Spring Mix Floaters XD I’d totally buy that!
If you doing like dark method for about 4 weeks (covering tank and no light just filter for beneficial bacteria) do you think should fix the problem with algae and does it water become clear in dirt tank after awhile,cheers
How timely that I came across this video. Yesterday I put organic potting soil into my new 29 gallon, wet it down into mud and have a fan on it to help remove the ammonia. You mention floating plants to help process the ammonia. Would a large (12 × 12 x3 inch) free floating mass of Java Moss do the same?
I don't think java moss can succ nutrient that fast (?)
Well, not as fast as frogbit, salvinia, water lettuce, etc.
_cmiiw_
hey , i have prepared a dirted 10 gallon tank but the problem is i have comparatively low wat light (only 10 watts for 10 gallon)
so can u suggest some hardy stem plants that i can plant in there in the low light?
thanks
I cut a whole in the top of the bag ran water in sat it out in the sun/let some of the water drain and stuck it in a day later
If you follow the father fish, you’ll be extremely pleased with the ease and the rapid way you can add fish almost immediately. I did a tank about six weeks ago my first father fish he calls it planted dirty aquarium, but he always catch the dirt with twice as much sand, maybe an inch of dirt that’s enriched soil, and then 2 inches of sand or double that for a larger tank than 55 gallons Mine is going wonderfully the plants are growing like crazy. It is crystal clear and there’s only about 10 gallons in the tank after displacement it’s a 15 gallon tank and I have had 45 fish and only two have died over the last six weeks. One was because the temperature went a lot higherthan I expected because I live in South America and I was using very intense LED light too close to the surface
ok, I'm down to making a decision, a question for you. Do you still like the dirted substrate capped with sand method? I am leaning this way. Do you have any algae problems due to the dirt? thanks! I have enjoyed your channel for year! Todd
I just did mine but don't think I did my sand that thick and now I have some organic mix floating around. Will that event go away? It's a 55 gallon tall
For all of mine I use a soil mix and put the fish in right after filling it up and don't ever change water and never have any problems like others say they do.
I use fox farm ocean forest soil as it doesn't have any water soluble nitrogen and has aquatic based nutrients and I mix in sand (mostly pool filter), some crushed coral, I use flourite to give it some cec value and usually use the sand but have used the red as well. Then I cap it with sand and it usually doesn't matter how thick the cap is. I have 1 tank with only a tiny sand cap and it's working just as good as the one with 3+" sand cap.
With my mix I can break the cap, which I do frequently when moving plants that have long roots, and I never have anything to worry about.
Where do you get that soil I am going to be replacing a tank soon and I want to do a soil tank
@@Calthrow I get it from Home Depot or lately I have been going to Rural King as they have it sitting outside on pallets. Good luck! And remember there are usually more roots than leaves in most plants so it's good to have enough room for them.
@@shadeaquaticbreeder2914 thank you so much I can't wait to set it up I love planted tanks
Your reply to the RUclipsr here that uses organic potting soil has got to be the closest comparison to my situation.
I thought I could simply use sand in my aquarium to grow live plants. According to a few people who I have talked to say that I may as well have used concrete for substrate. I guess after reading and watching how to grow live plants in the aquarium, my "old school" sand method has become "past tense" for the lack of better words.
So as per my particular situation, I have strictly sand as my substrate. I also have 3 angels in the aquarium as well.
I read that you had removed (I assume) the fish before introducing the soil to the aquarium and then immediately put the fish back in the aquarium.
I'm a little sceptical about doing that - especially when we all know that ammonia can kill rather quickly.
I think my approach would be to prepare the soil in a separate container like that of a large plastic Rubbermaid container and let it sit for a few days or week occasionally sifting the "mud" with your hands in order to extinguish the ammonia gases locked up inside the mud.
While I'm on the topic of ammonia, perhaps using API's ammonia lock might be a good option as well!
Duckweed is the real saviour.
How to add soil substrate into the existing established fish tank ? My plants are not doing well with my current stone gravel tank, and I am thinking to add soil substrate for better plant survival and growth. I feel it could be risk to add 2 - 3 inches of soil substrate all in once to cover the bottom. I plan just to add a few plants in small soil pots to reduce risk for the fishes in my current tank. Will that work ?
Is miracle grow organic choice safe for my 10 gallon planted aquarium?
I like to do a dark start until the tank cycles use the ammonia t9 kick start the bacteria then turn on the lights and plant heavy
Was that blasting sand?
Thanks for your time.
I use Coast of Maine stonington blend to grow my cannabis. I have enough left from my last grow to setup a 5 gallon betta tank. Is that soil okay to use? Or should I save it for future grows and get something else?
What are the big leafy ones he has growing out of the top of a bunch of his tanks?
Potting mix has pearlite in it to help keep it from getting compacted and to drain well. Wouldn't you want more of just an outdoor gardening soil that doesn't have pearlite in it?
If you let it gas off for two days you leaf it or do you turn the soil ones or twice a day for those two days ...
On the advice of a friend, I started a tank with about 1/2 to 1 inch of compost from vegtable kitched waste, plus ground dry leaves, coffee and some grass clippings. On top a mix that I had of pea gravel and purchase aquarium gravel. After about 10 days, the Ph was about 6.4 and nitriates pretty high. I ran a canister filter - water is now clear and just added a dozen small plants. What would be a tollerent starter fish, more important will the compost be a problem. The lawn has a service that uses chemicals, but the compost is about 2 years or longer. Suggestions please.
You could try a beta fish. Probably too late now lol
hello, I am a beginner to planted aquarium and I am setting up my new 2ft tank. Does using organic soil stink the aquarium? please let me know. The aquasoils are very expensive.
Hi, At The First Tnx for Info, Question: we dont need wash it Or i Hear and saw In youtube They Cook It in macrowave, We dont need it?
Would adding soil work with freshwater puffers? Are there fish that don't respond well?
How come you use so much soil? I’m trying half an inch of soil when wet, 1 inch when dry (maybe more because there’s more under the black bar) and then capping with pool filter sand
Did you add water safe/dechlorinator to water before adding to the tank?
how do your floaters not get moldy with a lid on? i think lack of airflow molded mine
I just made a dirted tank I messed up and now every time I try an put new plants in a whole bunch of dirt comes straight up n I have to scoop it with a net
What about using water conditioner to remove chlorine and ammonia?
curious, do you have any issues with the dirt bleeding up through the sand cap? everything i see is you want about a 2: ratio sand to dirt.. so you said you had 2.5 inches of dirt according to them you'ld need 5 inches of sand so just curious if you're experiences with using far less of a cap?
hey , i have prepared a dirted 10 gallon tank but the problem is i have comparatively low wat light (only 10 watts for 10 gallon)
so can u suggest some hardy stem plants that i can plant in there in the low light?
thanks
Is it normal to have brown cloudy water for a while even after water changes?
Now that I've done my tank, I'm sad because I never knew about the air pockets and soaking the dirt like tht
Hey i just have done all of the things you did and i planted some plants to but there were worms in the soil they are just climbing up what to do
I’m late to this but what’s the point of dieted tanks if you’re not planting a ton of plants in the substrate?
Hello,
I have a huge African Leopard bush fish that I would love to send you footage off. Not sure if it’s male or female, hardiest fish I’ve had. I am
wondering if you ever got some and what you feed it? Sorry I didn’t comment on the bush fish video.
hey ! i am one of those foolish newbies on the learning curve
right now i got a 10 gallon tank with like half an inch of gravel as the only substrate💀
So i was thinking could i just add an inch of potting/garden soil over the gravel and then cap it up with 2 inch sand??
or do i have to remove the gravel first?
i would end up having like almost 4 inches of substrate by this...would this be an issue?
thanks
how many times do u change the water in the aquarium tank in a year?
Im giung to try thus, i usually used substrate
I would have mentioned terrestrial plants that can also help with water quality
If you’re not going to have plants, but just a couple large goldfish, is a dirt tank (with sand over) recommended? Thanks
No
😂heard that when i get paid lol😅
I have a ton of Amazon swords, dwarf Sagittarius and pathos. Would these plants help with the ammonia or do I need floating plants?
hey , i have prepared a dirted 10 gallon tank but the problem is i have comparatively low wat light (only 10 watts for 10 gallon)
so can u suggest some hardy stem plants that i can plant in there in the low light?
thanks
A 50% water change every 3 day's? Is this just during the initial start-up? I have 5 tanks set up like this now. Will be switching my gravel bottom tanks over gradually.
Definently only during start up
Hi! So I have a very very basic tank for breeding ramshorn snails , and I was wondering for filtration can I just use a air pump?
hey , i have prepared a dirted 10 gallon tank but the problem is i have comparatively low wat light (only 10 watts for 10 gallon)
so can u suggest some hardy stem plants that i can plant in there in the low light?
thanks
Will house plants, do, as well?
Hello sorry just came across you video can I use pool filter sand?
Question
So when your adding water to your tank is it water from an existing tank or regular tap water if I add regular tap water Do I have to add any chlorine remover???
Reg tap water or reverse osmosis water. If using reg water need declared like prime or safe by seachem