# Transitioning to El Natural



## joemomma (Apr 7, 2006)

Hi...I setup a 10g for my little one about three weeks ago from scratch (been tankless for a while and this was a good excuse to get back in). Standard 10g "kit" from Wally World, with a HOB filter and two incandescent lights. Well, I got the plant bug again and added the apon. bulbs that are available at Wally World as well. These guys are really taking off, and I was wondering if I can "convert" this new tank to a soil tank at this point. Basically, can I drain the water, move the gravel out of the way, add the soil (running some bottle tests now on various bags of potting soil that were laying around) and then recover/refill/replant? Is this doable, or should I just start over?


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## flagg (Nov 29, 2004)

Yes, you can convert it the way you described. You might want to consider getting a 15w flo. light strip for the tank. Flo. bulbs give off more light than incan. That's probably why when we go to stores we are bombarded by bright flo. lighting. Much of the incan. bulb's energy is turned into heat. I had a 10 gal w/ 15W of flo. lighting (cool white I think it was) and it did quite well.

-ricardo


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## texasbec (Feb 2, 2006)

You can get compact fluorescent screw in bulbs. I found 13 watt, 6500K (sunlight bulbs) at WalMart for about $6. Two of those would give you 2.6 watts per gallon. I did exactly that to my 10 gallon hood/light. Works great!


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## Jimbo205 (Feb 2, 2006)

JoeMomma I look forward to seeing you post your photos and watch this in progress.


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## Jimbo205 (Feb 2, 2006)

Flagg & texasbec - what is a hatch date & hatched?


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## texasbec (Feb 2, 2006)

They are mystery aquatic eggs! You can get them over at The Gab, a goldfish and aquarium forum. Each month there are a new batch of eggs! The July eggs should be hatching in a few days! http://thegab.org/Eggs/


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## flagg (Nov 29, 2004)

texasbec said:


> You can get compact fluorescent screw in bulbs. I found 13 watt, 6500K (sunlight bulbs) at WalMart for about $6. Two of those would give you 2.6 watts per gallon. I did exactly that to my 10 gallon hood/light. Works great!


Thanks, texasbec! I forgot about those too!

As to the eggs, just click on one of our eggs or hatched creatures and it'll take you to the site.

-ricardo


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## joemomma (Apr 7, 2006)

OK, conversion is completed! Sorry for the delay, but we have been out of town for a while and today was the first opportunity I've had to do it. Ended up using standard Miracle Grow potting soil, it had the least amount of coloration during the bottle tests. The water was pretty much clear after sitting outside for a week. I have replanted everything. I used about 1" of soil below the gravels (about three big Dixie cups worth). I'll get some picutes up in a little while.


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## joemomma (Apr 7, 2006)

Well, I have some pictures, but the quality is somewhat poor. Any pointers for shooting the tank will be appreciated!
The plants are two packages' worth of the apon, about a package worth of the bulbs failed to sprout. There seems to be a couple of different kinds of plants in the mix though, some of them look like big corkscrew vals, while others almost look like a lilly or something. 
Lemme see if I can attach some photos...


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## flagg (Nov 29, 2004)

joemomma said:


> OK, conversion is completed! Sorry for the delay, but we have been out of town for a while and today was the first opportunity I've had to do it. Ended up using standard Miracle Grow potting soil, it had the least amount of coloration during the bottle tests. The water was pretty much clear after sitting outside for a week. I have replanted everything. I used about 1" of soil below the gravels (about three big Dixie cups worth). I'll get some picutes up in a little while.


Miracle Grow soils typically have ferts added to them so you might have issues w/ excess nutrients in the water column. Did you test the water from your bottle test? If you did and there wasn't any ammo or nitrite, then you should be ok. The problem is w/ so few plants there isn't going to be anything to soak up the excess nutrients which could easily lead to algae and other problems w/ the fish.

-ricardo


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## joemomma (Apr 7, 2006)

I was afraid of that....
No, I didn't do any water tests on the samples, so I expect that I will have some issues if I don't get some fast-growers in there. I hope to be able to stop by the LFS and pick up a few goodies to pop in there before things get out of control. The fish are doing great right now though. Looking at the potting mix, there is quite a bit of organic matter in it. Hopefully this little experiment won't turn into a disaster.
The plants that are in there now really seem to be taking off though! It's only been two full days, but I can see some nice growth already. One of the bulbs has shot a runner out through the top of the water, with what looks to be some kind of flower blooming. I'll try to get a shot of that tonight when I get home.


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## flagg (Nov 29, 2004)

If the fish are doing well, then I wouldn't quite worry yet, but def. try to get some fast growing plants in there. I have tons of water lettuce in my pond, if you want some drop me a PM and hook you up with some.

-ricardo


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## joemomma (Apr 7, 2006)

Thanks for the offer, but I think I can get by the LFS tonight and come up with some Cabomba or something. Can you recommend something that will go with what I already have in there and look nice?


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

flagg said:


> Miracle Grow soils typically have ferts added to them so you might have issues w/ excess nutrients in the water column. The problem is w/ so few plants there isn't going to be anything to soak up the excess nutrients which could easily lead to algae and other problems w/ the fish.
> 
> -ricardo


Ditto. You need to start out with about 3-4 times more plants and several different species including floating plants. You're depending on 1-2 species to grow well under the conditions you provide. This spartan system may work, but its risky.


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## joemomma (Apr 7, 2006)

Once I get more plants in there to soak up the initial nutrient spike, how long will this last roughly? I guess that would depend on what is actually in the soil I added and how much the plants can absorb, right? Once the excess nutrients are gone, do I have to leave the fast-growers in or can I replace them with something else?
Thanks for the help! Hopefully I don't have a timebomb on my hands here.


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## flagg (Nov 29, 2004)

I think you should try to get as many plants, and different varieties, as possible. Whatever grows well, leave in the tank and whatever fares poorly take out. The more variety the better. You'll def. need fast-growing plants and floating ones (water lettuce, duckweed, salvinia, etc). If they grow, then leave them in. If you take them out, even after the tank is established, then you run the risk of throwing the tank out of balance.

-ricardo


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## joemomma (Apr 7, 2006)

I took some updated shots of the tank last night but wasn't able to post them (busy busy!). I'll try to get them up tonight.


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## joemomma (Apr 7, 2006)

Got a few nice pics last night...see if I can get these added.

Tonight I will get to the LFS...(I hope)


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

joemomma said:


> Once I get more plants in there to soak up the initial nutrient spike, how long will this last roughly? I guess that would depend on what is actually in the soil I added and how much the plants can absorb, right? Once the excess nutrients are gone, do I have to leave the fast-growers in or can I replace them with something else?
> QUOTE]
> 
> You just need a lot of different plants, slow-growers and fast-growers.
> ...


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## Minipol (Jul 4, 2006)

> It sounds like you need to read my book.


Wow how's that for sales talk  
Really joemomma, Diane is right, her book is great.
I finished it this week and it has been a LOOOOONG time since a book got me hooked like this.
It's full of info and if you don't like the read, you can skip to the back and get usefull info anyway.
After you've read it, you wonder why didn't I think of that. Very informative.

I mean, low maintenance tanks? Who likes maintaining tanks anyway  
Besides, the time you save by using this method will easily allow you to buy other tanks to work with. Muhahaha :whoo:


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## joemomma (Apr 7, 2006)

Sorry for the delay, been very exciting at the house (my wife broke her collar bone). Anyway, I was able to get the LFS, picked up some driftwood, more fishies, and some more plants. I added some micro sword and a couple of crypts, later I hope to add some floaters. Will update with some pics as soon as I can. Thanks for the help!


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## Minipol (Jul 4, 2006)

Sounds good. Can't wait for the pics and i hope the wife recover quickly !


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## joemomma (Apr 7, 2006)

Added pictures. I do have a couple of questions though:
1) Looks like one of the leaves on one of my crypts is "melting"...what causes this?
2) A couple of the micro sword leaves are yellowing. Any ideas?

Thanks, and hope you enjoy. My aquascaping skills lack a little I imagine, but we like it.


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## flagg (Nov 29, 2004)

joemomma said:


> Added pictures. I do have a couple of questions though:
> 1) Looks like one of the leaves on one of my crypts is "melting"...what causes this?
> 2) A couple of the micro sword leaves are yellowing. Any ideas?
> 
> Thanks, and hope you enjoy. My aquascaping skills lack a little I imagine, but we like it.


Crypts, I've found are very sensitive to being moved so it's possible that they're adjusting to the transition. As to the micro sword, well, yellowing of leaves often indicates a nitrogen deficiency, but in a newly set up tank, I doubt this would be a problem... so well, I don't know, sorry!

-ricardo


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