# Potting Soil



## PeterE (Feb 9, 2010)

Would Ace Hardware organic potting soil work well in an el natural tank? There is no ingredient list on the package so I don't know what it has in it, but it seems like it might have a lot of organics. Would topsoil be better? I just have this stuff laying around, so I thought I should ask. Thanks.


----------



## lake_tuna (Mar 18, 2010)

PeterE said:


> Would Ace Hardware organic potting soil work well in an el natural tank? There is no ingredient list on the package so I don't know what it has in it, but it seems like it might have a lot of organics. Would topsoil be better? I just have this stuff laying around, so I thought I should ask. Thanks.


I read in another thread that described someone having problems with manure-based potting soil. If the "organic" things in the potting soil aren't somethings you would put in the fish tank in the first place, it's safe to assume, it would be bad for the fish in another form. I'm surprised that it doesn't have any ingredient listing. Try the website, perhaps? It does seem that there's an optimum ingredient ratio of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium (NPK), though, from what I've read here.. 0.05-0.01-0.01% (NPK) according to Diana Walstad (I read on a thread here).


----------



## LVKSPlantlady (Oct 4, 2009)

Ace hardware top soil would be better....


----------



## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

Yeah, get top soil instead. I am using top soil too but it's not from Ace Hardware


----------



## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

Most potting soils are composted sawdust, manures and similar things. Little or no mineral or soil fraction. Maybe a small amount of sand, no silt, no clay. 
Organic in the sense that the material came from plants. Perhaps 'organic' in some other meaning. 

Here is a simple test:
Shake some up in a jar of water. Does most of it float? This is not aquarium material. 
Does most of it (90%) sink within 2 minutes? Very little floating? Then it is more likely sand and silt, actual soil particles, and is probably a better choice in the aquarium. 

Here is another test:
Put some in a bucket of water and test the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. If they skyrocket off the scale, then there may be chemical fertilizers or manures in the potting soil, and this is not good in an aquarium. Test every few days for a week. 
A small amount of ammonia may show up. This is OK. 
You can also test the water in the bucket with all the aquarium tests you have. Whatever the potting soil is doing to that water it will also do to the aquarium water. You may get some weird readings for a while, then it stabilizes.


----------



## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

You can find what Diana K mentioned at my blog below with some photos (a picture means a thousand words sometimes). Look for the article dated February 15, 2009:

http://umbrellarec.blogspot.com/2009_02_01_archive.html

Hope the info helps.


----------



## PeterE (Feb 9, 2010)

Thanks a lot, everybody. That test helped hugely. I think I will get topsoil.


----------

