# Advise after boiling earthworm casting



## dbolanos (Nov 17, 2005)

Hi everyone, this is my first post in this amazing forum.

After reading this thread http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/showthread.php?t=8032, I have a question.

-Once the earthworm casting is already boiled, can I put it into the aquarium and plant it? or else, which is the following step?

Thanks in advance.


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## Xema (Mar 24, 2004)

Another little spanish walking on the international board... I am from Cádiz too...

Well, I never knew the exact meaning of 'earthworm casting'... but I know by intuition it is that we name in spain "humus de lombriz", am i rigth?

I tested this kind of element as part of the aquarium soil for somer year... the result were not so bad... I would say good inclusive... But in a long term the life quality of the fish and plant start to get down in the nest 2 or 3 years... The organic molecules start to dissolve in the water and produce the appearance of hydras and other life which tell us about the bad quality of the water.

An interesting study about this; Contribution of GIS to the study of submerged macrophytes ecology in Lake Geneva with special focus on plant-sediment relationships

So I am now test with sustrates without organic matter, only with mineral and clay soils.

In the same line I am testing and writing the results with other kind of soil to growing emersed crypts... and would need the help to translate some name of the elements what i am using... some like:

- 'Mantillo vegetal de bosque de castaños' (Castanea sativa and Erica sp.)
- 'Compost de restos de madera'
- 'Hojarasca de haya'

Greets from Spain


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## RTR (Oct 28, 2005)

A bit of organic matter in the substrate is not a bad thing, but too much can allow nasty conditions to develop. This is why I like some extended bacterial digestion of the soup if you are staring with organics, to essentially compost/mineralize the organics. 

Any issue developing in my tanks after >2 years would be the result of organic build-up in the subtrate fron dead/decaying root mass and excess mulm, which would be the tank letting me know that I have not done enough division and substrate clean-up lately.

I'm fairly conscientious on this, as my tanks normally are set for years, so I know that I need to do substrate maintenance just as you do outdoors in flower beds. Few natural things in limited spaces are really stable, renewal upkeep is absolutely requiered.


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