# Starting an NPT - brown water



## desewer (Jun 23, 2009)

Hi all

Recently started an NPT slowly. Added an inch of some unused aquarium base ferts, then an inch of potting soil, and finally an inch of 1-3mm gravel.

This is a (L)24x(W)12x(H)18 tank, and the water is only about 6 inches deep. I haven't gotten round to buying any plants for the tank. I figured I'd just fill the water in and let it sit/condition whilst I wait for a suitable time to buy the plant. This tank has no livestock or plants whatsoever, and I ran a small internal filter to just create water flow and keep the mosquitoes away.

I filled the tank last night (6 inches of water) and by this morning the water was a dirty yellow/brown. Am I missing something here? Should I have compacted the gravel? Because I didn't.

Or is this normal and I should make frequent water changes until the water is clear?

The internal filter in the tank is not the final one I will be using. My eventual filter for this NPT is an Eheim 2008 Pick-Up internal filter.

Oh, and by the way, I don't have any wood in the tank so it's definitely not leaching from wood. Perhaps leaching from the soil?


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## Qwertus (Oct 14, 2008)

If you use the soil from from your yard as top soil you shouldn't add it straight into your tank IMO. I added soil into my shrimp tank just last week using my yard soil as the topsoil. 

Here's what I did for mine:

I put all the soil that i dig up from my backyard into a bucket and fill it with boiling water, leave it for a while until the water cool, then empty the water from the bucket with whatever that was floating up. Repeat that several time to sorta sterilize the soil to reduce unwanted live organism from the soil. Doing that will also remove most of the stuff that is floating in the water. After I add the water from a larger tank it only takes a few hours for the tank to become clear, I moved one of my filter from the same tank that has been running for a few months into that tank to get a instant cycled tank. I added some plants, snails and a few guppies in the same day.


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## JeffyFunk (Apr 6, 2006)

desewer said:


> Added an inch of some unused aquarium base ferts, then an inch of potting soil, and finally an inch of 1-3mm gravel.


What is this unused aquarium base ferts that you're referring to? While I've added fertilizers like Potash and Lime to the base of my soil-based aquariums, I've never added more than just a thin layer of them.



desewer said:


> I filled the tank last night (6 inches of water) and by this morning the water was a dirty yellow/brown. Am I missing something here? Should I have compacted the gravel? Because I didn't.
> 
> Or is this normal and I should make frequent water changes until the water is clear?


Working with a soil substrate can be a little tricky. First of all, no, you don't have to compact that gravel. Add enough of it? Yes. Compact it? Not necessary.

Second of all, yes, you are right in that you should do a water change after planting your plants in the soil. After you set up your tank by adding the gravel on top of the soil sub-layer, you were correct in adding only ~6 inches of water to the tank. Be sure not to disturb the soil-sublayer when you add the water. At this point, you'd plant your plants. After that, you should drain off all the water. It's important to do water changes at this time to remove all the muddy water since it's easier to do it now with only ~6'' of muddy water versus your entire tank. It may be necessary to do more than one water change to get the water clear. If your water continues to be muddy after 3 or more water changes, check that (1) the addition of water is not disturbing the soil sublayer and (2) you have enough gravel over the soil sublayer at all parts of the aquarium (Particularly around where you plant your plants). Good luck and let us know how it goes .


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## mudboots (Jun 24, 2009)

Potting soil and potting mix are two different beasts. The potting soil can be expected to leach lots of tannins and various other goodies in significant quantities.

Regarding planting, I plant by completely draining the water (never really add it until the plants are already in), leaving just a wet substrate. This way you can get your planting done and even take the time to move stuff around to get the roots completely planted without having organics flush up into the water column.


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

Make sure to keep this tank in the dark until you get the plants. You don't want to give algae a headstart on the plants.


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## desewer (Jun 23, 2009)

Hi all, thanks for the inputs.

The unused base ferts are actually some aquarium-use ferts from which I had leftovers after I set up my main tank (high-tech). I reckon they shouldn't cause any issues with water clarity or nutrient excess because they are at the very bottom layer?

The tank is not lit up and I've drained the water out. I'll find some time this weekend or one of these weeknights to fill and drain the tank several times, and see if the brown water occurs again. Once I feel the water is sufficiently clear, I'll add in the plants.

Thankfully, there's plenty of fish farms near my home and I can get pots of Amazon swords, Hygrophilias, etc easily.


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

desewer said:


> The unused base ferts are actually some aquarium-use ferts from which I had leftovers after I set up my main tank (high-tech). I reckon they shouldn't cause any issues with water clarity or nutrient excess because they are at the very bottom layer?


If those fertilizers contained sulfates (many do), I wouldn't assume that just because they're at the bottom that they won't hurt. Actually, its worse, because they're now in an anaerobic environment.

Anaerobic soil bacteria will convert sulfate-containing fertilizers (e.g., potassium sulfate, ammonium sulfate, calcium sulfate, etc) to H2S gas (hydrogen sulfide). H2S will slowly move up through the soil and kill the plant roots. H2S stinks, so you should be able to smell it if you poke around in the soil.

If you aerate the water, you may be able to eventually clear out the H2S.

If you don't have a copy of my book, I would buy one or see if your library doesn't carry it. You could end up wasting a lot of time and money.


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## Emily6 (Feb 14, 2006)

I'm having a problem with gas bubbles in the substrate- mine don't smell like H2S all the time though- just a mix, I think. But I'm worried that my java fern died almost immediately after placing it on a rock. And two out of three of my bottom feeding cory cats died very shortly after purchasing. It definitely smells eggy occasionally. 

When you suggest aerating the water to relieve this, won't that bring down the CO2, causing more algae? I guess algae is better than killing the plants but I'm only slightly ahead of the algae right now.


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

Emily6 said:


> When you suggest aerating the water to relieve this, won't that bring down the CO2, causing more algae?


I would aerate the water until you get rid of the H2S problem.


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## Emily6 (Feb 14, 2006)

thanks for the advice- it seems to have solved itself and the root balls from the Java fern are covered in new tiny leaves (glad I didn't toss them!). No other casualties.


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## WhiteDevil (May 7, 2009)

On an NPT, does this tannin leach pose a problem?

I have blackwater aquariums but not an NPT. I would think its a cosmetic thing,right?


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

WhiteDevil said:


> On an NPT, does this tannin leach pose a problem?
> 
> I have blackwater aquariums but not an NPT. I would think its a cosmetic thing,right?


Tannins aren't that big a deal except that they reduce the light intensity for plants.


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## bmedeiros678 (Mar 26, 2007)

WhiteDevil said:


> On an NPT, does this tannin leach pose a problem?


I like the tannin look.


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