# Soil type



## Mischka (Jan 17, 2009)

Hi all,

I went to Lowes last night and picked up to types of soil:


Kellogg Top Soil
Kellogg Natural Compost

I'm trying to decide which one I should use. If you all wouldn't mind, please chime in with your suggestions, based on the list of ingredients below.

Kellogg Top Soil ingredients:

Aged forest compost
Barnyard manure
Sand

Kellogg Natural Compost ingredients:

Compost
chicken manure
bat quano
worm casings
kelp meal
oyster shells
dolomite lime bits

The substrate will be under a layer of sand in a 1 gallon vase.

Please let me know what you think, suggestions appreciated!


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## Mischka (Jan 17, 2009)

Think I found the answer w/ an old archived thread. Looks like top soil is the way to go.


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## wkndracer (Mar 23, 2008)

Miracle Grow Organic Choice Potting Soil worked very well for me so far.


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## dawntwister (Sep 29, 2007)

Yeh, the top soil sounds better. For the other has manure in it. 

Next time I break my tank down, hopefully soon, I am going to use some potting soil that has peat moss in it on the bottom then top it with topsoil. Topping the top soil with river sand, for get it real cheap at landscaping company.


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## mudboots (Jun 24, 2009)

I wouldn't use anything with manure in it. I'm not saying "You" shouldn't use it, but I personally would avoid a topsoil that was labeled to contain barnyard manure. As wkndracer mentioned, Miracle Grow's "Organic Choice" is a great product. I used it with a mix of sand/gravel on top and it turned out nice. I don't plan on being able to see it once plants finish filling in, but I'm looking more for function than aesthetics.

Here's 2 pics from a while back of how it looks (today it's similar, just more plant coverage).


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## Mischka (Jan 17, 2009)

Thanks everyone. Just curious, but why is manure bad? I figured it was more natural than some of the other ingredients I saw in other soil. I'll check our Lowe's/Home Depot later to see if they have the Miracle Grow Organic in stock.


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## mudboots (Jun 24, 2009)

With manure it seems that you'd get quicker breakdown of organics than something that is pretty much decomposing pieces of tree, so there's a quick flush of nutrients that will feed an algae attack. Also, you add a biological uncertainty in what's really in it. There's no way to know for certain if any bacterial agents (the bad ones) still exist, or whether or not they could form depending on just what's in the maure (where critter it came from, what the critters were fed...). Then there's the elemental side of what's in it, such as mercury and so forth (not that it's in it, just that you won't really know). Also, that much instant organic release is going to leave a surface film faster and thicker as the decomp will be faster. 

Maybe I'm just over-cautious, as I have not really done a whole lot of research into this, but I just am not comfortable with "stuff" in my aquarium other than the "stuff" that comes from within it (from the snails, fish, et cetera).


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## dawntwister (Sep 29, 2007)

Believe the problem is that it contains chemicals similar to vege ferts that is toxic to the fish. Probably great for the plants though.

A good soil is ferti.lome sead & cutting starter. legomaniac89 uses it and has great success with it.


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## Johnriggs (Jun 26, 2009)

Function over aesthetics is my goal too mudboots. I think mother nature had that in mind when she designed me as well, alas. 

John R


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## prBrianpr (Nov 18, 2007)

I prefer the mineralized soil. I wait 1 month to mineralized it. I use growing soil so it has a lot of organics and fertilizer, compost too. But at the end of the month the soil is different. Have black color, it still have organics in it. I mix it with clay. The clay make that the nutrients not go to the water column. I used this mix in all my Aquarium (15-10G 1-30G and 1-20G) not problems so far. The first tree months it not work at full potential, after the tree months the tanks runs by itself, not fertilizer needed.


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## dawntwister (Sep 29, 2007)

prBrianpr said:


> I prefer the mineralized soil. I mix it with clay.


Where do you get the clay?


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