# How important is soil poking?



## EdC (Sep 3, 2015)

I read about people dirting their tank, planting it, waiting six weeks and tossing in fish. Everything is good, and everything lives happily ever after.

Then I read about people staying up all night jabbing their substrate with a stick to release bubbles.

So, what do I do? I have half an inch of red Mexican clay on the bottom, a 1/8" layer of SafeTSorb on top of that, then a mix of somewhat mineralized Miracle Gro Organic and SafeTSorb, about 2 inches, then an inch of red fluorite as a cap. If I poke it, I definitely get bubbles, so I have been poking it, but it is hard to poke close to the plants without dislodging poorly rooted clippings, etc. I think I have replanted the same piece of hygro difformis three times in 24 hours. I worry about mangling developing root systems too. 

I have come to the conclusion that I need a smaller diameter poker than the big plastic garden stake I have been using, but even something like a chopstick, I worry about damaging roots, etc. How much do I really need to poke, and how close do I need to get to the plants while poking? Can I just poke once a day, or should I be jabbing away several times per day?

I do have some MTS, but only about 20, in a 40 hex, so they aren't going to do the job for me. So far the tank is supporting life, probably due to lots of floaters, a few houseplant roots, and a small cycled Aquaclear. The MTS are surviving though, as are three mystery snails, and a small Victorian cichlid that somehow got there with plants I stored temporarily in my big tank. I removed him last night, but he spent nearly two weeks in there, from the day I first set it up.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.


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## EdC (Sep 3, 2015)

Oh, to define "somewhat mineralized Miracle Gro":

Two day soak. Skimmed off floaters. Overnight soak. Skimmed off floaters. 8 days on a tarp drying slowly and painfully. Two day soak. Skim. One day soak+skim. One day soak+skim. Mixed with SafeTSorb, let sit for 10 hours, and then added to tank. Not perfect, but with the fall weather making drying take forever, it was the best I could do.


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## GadgetGirl (Sep 25, 2013)

If you're not smelling H2S (rotten eggs) in the bubbles when you poke, then all that poking is probably unnecessary. I did very little poking and I used a chopstick.


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Agree with GadgetGirl. The H2S smell is the indication that a lot of anaerobic decomposition is going on, and that can be harmful. If the bubbles do not smell, they are probably CO2, which is desirable in a Walstad tank. And a chop stick or planting forceps are the right size tools to use. Poke once in a while to check smell and don't worry.


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## EdC (Sep 3, 2015)

Thanks to both of you. Your advice is much appreciated. I haven't noticed an odour from the tank aside from the first couple of days, and there is no rotten egg smell when I disturb a ton of bubbles like I have been doing daily. I am probably jinxing it by saying this, but 14 days in, nothing too catastrophic has happened. No algae bloom (or no more than the mystery snails can handle maybe), crypts haven't melted (what?!?!), and everything in the riparium baskets is at least making a valiant effort at clinging to life, with many signs of new growth. I figured I'd just have a giant tub of green water and stench.


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## seove (Jul 7, 2014)

I don't disturb my substrate. I'm of the believe that it's a bio-filter in itself. If you disturb those bubbles the bad gasses can get released into your water column. If the rise on their own, they will make it to the surface without contaminating your water column.


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