# 20 Gallon Long "Dirted" Aquarium Captain's Log



## carlsagan (Oct 20, 2013)

*Some background:* My mother gave me her unused 10 gallon a few weeks ago so naturally I started researching about the different types of aquariums out there and much to my delight I stumbled upon a design I'd never seen or even heard of: the "planted aquarium". Instantly I knew that this was a new hobby I could really get into. Biology, ecology, and the natural sciences have always been a natural interest of mine and the opportunity to actively create my own slice of nature in the comfort of my home was appealing.

*Fast forward to a week ago:* At this point I'd delved a little further and discovered that not only are there planted aquariums but they can be "high-tech", "low-tech", or even a "Walstad". Talk about an information overload. It got to be overwhelming for a moment however I knew I wanted to keep it simple but interesting at the same time. So I decided on a hybrid of sorts. I ditched the 10 gallon and bought a 20 gal long that's going to have a dirt/clay based substrate, low-medium lighting, good filtration, and some DIY co2.

With all that being said I'm still a couple essential pieces of equipment away from really getting my hands dirty and having some fun!

*Tank:* 20 gallon long

*Substrate:* Mix of red clay powder and Miracle Grow Organic Choice Potting Mix capped with Flourite Black

*Lighting:* 24-36" Current USA Satellite Freshwater LED +

*Filter:* Eheim 2213 Classic Canister

*Heater:* Eheim Jager 75 watt

*Extras:* DIY CO2 and some possibly Flourish Excel

*Fish:* Not quite sure yet. Definitely some Pygmy Corys, some middle level swimmers and top level swimmers.

*Plants:* Again not quite sure yet. Easier to grow plants seem like my best bet since this is my first go at it.

*Invertebrates:* SHRIMP! Any kind haha. Just have to find out where I can get some.

*Pic of tank and stand*

I'll be using some sort of material as a buffer between aquarium and those posts it's balancing on at the moment.










*Rinsed and strained the flourite*



















WHEW!! I completely understand if you don't read through all of this, but if you did cheers! I hope to have this up and running in the next month. Plenty more to come


----------



## tonnakpil (Jul 29, 2013)

Welcome to APC, CarlSagan.  I'm sure you'll be having tons of fun with this new hobby. Cheers.


----------



## carlsagan (Oct 20, 2013)

Cheers tonnakpil! I'm very much looking forward to getting into the aquarium world.


----------



## Kerry (Sep 5, 2013)

Getting ready is more than half the fun!


----------



## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Looks like a good start! Two suggestions:

You need a flat rigid surface for the tank. Right now it looks like it is resting on four raised post ends. Just padding those ends will not be enough, you need to evenly support all of the lower rim of the tank. A piece of thick exterior grade plywood would work, and you could paint it black to match the rim and stand.

Prepare your Miracle Grow before you but it in the tank. The simplest way is to soak and drain it several times, or you can mineralize it. MGOC is too rich for aquarium substrate. People do use it straight from the bag (I have and regretted it), but it will give you problems with excess nutrients, lots of floating chunks, and tannins coloring the water. It takes time, lots of big water changes, and good biological filtration to overcome these difficulties.

Welcome to APC and this fascinating hobby! We want your first tank to be very successful.


----------



## carlsagan (Oct 20, 2013)

Michael, thank you for the warm welcome!

I agree, the stand is going to need some underlying support as well. A few 2x4's underneath and some painted plywood right underneath the aquarium so it's not balancing on those posts. 

Should I strain out the larger pieces from the potting mix as well? I'd planned on soaking and rinsing it like I did with the flourite. 

Thanks again for the advice!


----------



## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Yes, it is best to take out the big pieces. Not only do they float for a long time, but if you can keep them down with the cap, it is an excessive amount of organic matter decomposing in the substrate. When you soak the MGOC, most of this stuff will float to the top of the water. From there you can skim or pour it off when you change the water. You will lose at least 25% of the volume of soil you start with, so use extra soil at the beginning.


----------



## carlsagan (Oct 20, 2013)

Thank you! I'll be getting my soil this week and the light and filter will be here the second week of November.

Pictures will be posted of things getting set up. 

Are any of you familiar with using the Rule of Thirds and the Fibonacci technique for scaping?


----------



## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

I regularly use rule of thirds and golden ratio as guides. Never tried Fibonacci, and I'm not sure how you would apply it to aquarium layout.


----------



## carlsagan (Oct 20, 2013)

I'll post a link to the Fibonacci triangle that has a diagram, it's pretty neat. Do you have some pictures of your aquariums on here Michael?


----------



## carlsagan (Oct 20, 2013)

Thought I'd do a minor date on what I've been up to.

In retrospect I could've probably done all of this in a more efficient way but oh well..

Bought a 16qt bag of Miracle Grow Organic Mix and soaked it in the only sizable container I had which happened to be a 10 gallon tank lol.

Dumped the whole bag in there and filled it up with water. As you can see there was a lot of stuff to be skimmed off right away.



















I skimmed off the top, drained the water until it was about an inch above the mix and filled it back up with fresh water, and mixed it up pretty good then let it set for another 24 hours and repeated that two more times.

Tonight I used a small mesh screen sifter from the kitchen (it's all I had lol) to get the mix out and onto a small tarp so it can dry and be processed further.










As you can see that mix is pretty darn good at holding water so I spent about an hour jamming to some music and squeezing the water out!

Re-bagged it for now but tomorrow (after the tarp is done drying after I cleaned it) I'm going to spread the mix over it and use the fan to speed up the drying process. That way I can pick/sift out the remaining sticks and whatnot. Heck of a process.

That small pile on the right up there is the consistency of the wrung out mix btw.


----------



## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Good job! Thanks for the photo of the 10 gallon with the soil soaking in it--that is exactly the way it should work. You actually got lucky with the floaters, your batch of soil has fewer floating bits than many bags do.


----------



## carlsagan (Oct 20, 2013)

Thanks Michael. I kind of thought so; I'd expected there to be a lot more floating debris. I think I'm just going to dry it and call it good rather than repeat the process again haha. Some organics aren't going to hurt too bad


----------



## Barbels (Jul 15, 2004)

Wow, how exciting your project is.  . I hope it goes great for you.
I hope to do a 20 Long LOW-tech planted tank soon. I have been away from fishkeeping since BBA destroyed my 75-gal and scared me away (almost) forever. I injected Co2 and hard as I tried and researched, I had no idea of what I was doing. 

Upon returning to the fishtank stuff, I am suddenly hearing a lot more about using dirt instead of the usual substrates.

So is dirt a better way to go?
Or do most people find that the other bagged substrates have more advantages?
What are the big differences and advantages of one over the other?

Thank you for sharing your 20L. I look forward to your future posts, Carl.


----------



## carlsagan (Oct 20, 2013)

Thanks for the well wishes Barbels!

Plants absorb more nutrients through their roots than their leaves so having a nutrient rich substrate such as dirt/soil/potting mix is ideal. There are other bagged substrates like Eco-Complete which also work really well according to folks I've talked to.

Using a clay cap like Flourite: http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/FlouriteBlack.html is helpful because 1.) It's naturally inert and won't mess with the chemistry of the tank however 2.) It does a good job of "storing" minerals and nutrients.


----------

