# First post, question about soil!



## axia55 (Jul 5, 2007)

Hi everyone,

I have been lurking for a few weeks and I have a copy of Diana's book on the way, should be here tomorrow. I can't wait! 

Anyways, I bought a 40lb bag of generic topsoil from Home Depot. I put about an inch in a glass jar on Saturday night with water filling the rest of the jar. I tested it tonight for Ammonia and got a zero reading. Can this be right, I mean, shouldn't there be at least a little ammonia?

Thanks for your help


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## bpimm (Jun 12, 2006)

Not always, My topsoil never has any Ammonia present. Give it a couple more days to make sure. The beauty of soil that doesn't have the Ammonia is you can add the fish right away.


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## Red_Rose (Mar 18, 2007)

When you do set up your tank, test the water everyday for about a week or so. When I had set up my tank, the first two days there was no ammonia then on the third day, the ammonia went up to 0.25ppm and stayed like that for quite a few days. I had to take my betta out of there because of it.


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## axia55 (Jul 5, 2007)

I read something about "baking" soil in the oven before it is used, is this really necessary?

I just got an email notice that my book is out for delivery and should be waiting on me at home!


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

I would say that baking is not necessary. I've never baked the soil that I use in my tanks and it hasn't caused any problems. 

Plan to spend some quality time with Diana's book, I find it invaluable.


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## flagg (Nov 29, 2004)

I've used Home Depot's generic soil and it releases A LOT of nitrites. Now, I don't know where you live, so I don't know if you'll have the same problem, but you def. need to test for nitrites after a couple of days. In my tank, it took about a month or so for the nitrites to subside.

As for baking soil, that is a bad idea for an NPT. By baking the soil you'll essentially be killing off most or all of the bacteria that's present and useful in soil. It's this bacteria that helps "seed" the tank and make it ready for fish almost straight out of the bag.

-ricardo


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

Soil varies so much that its almost impossible to predict what will happen in any setup. If you have plenty of fast-growing plants, they may be able to take up whatever nitrogen the soil generates. 

I would continue to measure ammonia and nitrites the first two weeks. Even if you start with none, they may pop up later (as decomposition and other bacterial processes start to crank up).

I don't recommend baking soil.

Fortunately, almost all soil problems are manageable and will resolve with time.


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## axia55 (Jul 5, 2007)

Thanks for the comments. I am nearly finished with your book, I should be done today. The thing that worries me now is that our water goes through a water softener. I need to look around and find out if we have a hose or some other outlet that bypasses the softener.


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## Emily6 (Feb 14, 2006)

Maybe you know this already but I learned the hard way- If you start finding ammonia in your tank, don't dose it with AmmoLock- most of the easy-to-find test kits can't distinguish the converted ammonia from the original toxin and you'll end up with outrageous false positives unless you do tons of water changes. My tank was reading 8ppm for weeks with happy, healthy fish (and, as it turned out, no ammonia whatsoever). Good luck with your soil!


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## aquabillpers (Apr 13, 2006)

Emily6 said:


> Maybe you know this already but I learned the hard way- If you start finding ammonia in your tank, don't dose it with AmmoLock- most of the easy-to-find test kits can't distinguish the converted ammonia from the original toxin and you'll end up with outrageous false positives unless you do tons of water changes. My tank was reading 8ppm for weeks with happy, healthy fish (and, as it turned out, no ammonia whatsoever). Good luck with your soil!


Perhaps another reason to eliminate the ammonia before you put the soil in the tank. <g>

Bill


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## newbie314 (Mar 2, 2007)

Lowe's Generic top soil.
Comes in a red bag.
Has composted material (tiny pieces of wood).
No real problems except a bug came out two days later but the Betta got it (once he figured out how to eat live food :S).

Fast growers are the key. Duckweed, Anacharis and Val. Sp. All fast growers. Val are root. Anacharis root and floater (below the surface mostly). Duckweed floaters (emergent).


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