Possibly wrong type of soil? I don't know I'm no expert
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My failed attempt at a dirted tank
- Thread starter doomiedee
- Start date
You either didn't have thick enough gravel layered on top of the dirt. Or when you added the water you were not careful enough not to disturb the gravel when filling the water. Or did you even put a gravel layer on top of the dirt? What kind of dirt did you use, Peat? Peat has a lot of fibers that float..
I've never had this happen to me before either. Whenever I add the dirt I add enough water to it to make it almost a play-dough consistency, then I add at least the same amount of sand (usually 1.5x the height at the minimum) fill it very slowly with a plate on top of the sand and everything stays in place. My guess is that when you filled it, the water displaced enough sand to uncover the dirt.
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This is what I woke up to. It's better at least I can inside the tank. All the dirt that is floating around is going to get syphoned out today a lot of excess soil settled on the top. I used a mix of of peat moss potting soil and smashed up clay pots. 
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I use the same concept for the dirt mixture (minus the clay pots didn't think about it). If you can figure out how the dirt got into the water column it will be an easy fix. The first time is always the most difficult because there just isn't a plethora of posts out there about
it. It seems like most people want to keep it a secret and make you pay for their "secret" mixture or a how to manual. I definitely struggled the first time, but i just bit the bullet and went for it.
I just mix organic soil with about a cup or two of sand, peat moss, red clay if I have any laying around (I used API first layer this time) and at this time Ill place my root tabs. Then cap it with pool filter sand ($10-12 for a 50lb bag). With a planted tank you can't really have substrate too deep because roots grow to the food source. In my 30g the substrate is close to 6" in the back corner and about 3-4" in the front.
Also LukeOscar makes a point, I don't really see any substrate on top of the dirt, could just be because its all black, but was there anything on top of it to begin with?
it. It seems like most people want to keep it a secret and make you pay for their "secret" mixture or a how to manual. I definitely struggled the first time, but i just bit the bullet and went for it.
I just mix organic soil with about a cup or two of sand, peat moss, red clay if I have any laying around (I used API first layer this time) and at this time Ill place my root tabs. Then cap it with pool filter sand ($10-12 for a 50lb bag). With a planted tank you can't really have substrate too deep because roots grow to the food source. In my 30g the substrate is close to 6" in the back corner and about 3-4" in the front.
Also LukeOscar makes a point, I don't really see any substrate on top of the dirt, could just be because its all black, but was there anything on top of it to begin with?
I actually learned how to do it on YouTube. I figured out what the problem was. There was a lot floating around when I put in the sand so I guess it just floated to the top and mudded the water. I figured out a little trick to make things easier. I had the hose running and filling the tank while I syphoned out the floating and settled soil. This is where I'm at now it toke a while but it a big improvement.
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I'm sure this has all been said in here already, but I feel it needs repeating incase it hasn't. I just did a dirt tank, and the water was filthy at first. I just took the tank into the bathroom, drained the water, and then filled and drained it 6 more times until the water was clearish. I then put the tank in its proper place, planted it, filled it again, and stuffed my filter with filter floss. It took two floss changes and about 8 hours to clean my water. Now I have a clear, clean little planted tank!
I just did it with my water changing hose and a bucket. Syphon the dirty water and floating soils in the bucket while the hose from the sink was filling the tank. This tank is probably bigger then yours so for me to move it upstairs and into the bathroom would be the only PITA.
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