Well the thing about dirted tanks is that if you add the dirt straight to the tank and then cap it, or using miracle-gro organic choice potting mix straight to the tank and then cap it; Is that it can form anaerobic gas pockets in the substrate, and by capping with sand traps these bubbles. These gas pockets can kill plants, and fish and wipe out the entire tank.
One way to avoid these anaerobic gas pockets in a dirted tank is going with the "MTS" route, which is using Mineralized Topsoil. Mineralized Topsoil is the finished result of mineralizing topsoil by soaking 100% organic topsoil in a bucket of water for 24 hours, then draining the water from the bucket and refill with new water and let it soak over night again, then drain the water and layout the topsoil on a tarp until it fully dries then repeat the process 2-3 more times until the topsoil feels grainy like sand. Then adding it to the tank, and capping it with gravel or sand.
What this does process does is bring out the nutrient in the topsoil to immediately be available to the plants, but by mineralizing topsoil it eliminates any carbon that may have been in the topsoil, essentially making you need to have a co2 source immediately available. However by going with this process it helps to eliminate the risk of anaerobic gas pockets forming.
One way to avoid these anaerobic gas pockets in a dirted tank is going with the "MTS" route, which is using Mineralized Topsoil. Mineralized Topsoil is the finished result of mineralizing topsoil by soaking 100% organic topsoil in a bucket of water for 24 hours, then draining the water from the bucket and refill with new water and let it soak over night again, then drain the water and layout the topsoil on a tarp until it fully dries then repeat the process 2-3 more times until the topsoil feels grainy like sand. Then adding it to the tank, and capping it with gravel or sand.
What this does process does is bring out the nutrient in the topsoil to immediately be available to the plants, but by mineralizing topsoil it eliminates any carbon that may have been in the topsoil, essentially making you need to have a co2 source immediately available. However by going with this process it helps to eliminate the risk of anaerobic gas pockets forming.
