# type of potting soil to use?



## sean-820 (Dec 26, 2006)

what are some potting soils i could use (brand name, pic of bag, pic of substrate) what type to use what to avoid (i know no pesticides or ferts in them)?

substrate for swords and crypts?
mayby some potting soil under soilmaster select? add some pure laterite too?


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## Muirner (Jan 9, 2007)

I used Jolly Gardner top soil (i think, to be honest i'd have to go look again) I dont have a pic handy, i can show you a pic of the substrate but it's capped by SMS.


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## dnrdarryl (Jul 23, 2006)

The one that works for me is Hyponex potting soil. Its available at walmart for .94 for a 10 lb bag.


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## sean-820 (Dec 26, 2006)

do these have any affect on tank water?

like clouds it?
changes Ph or other things gh, ,kh adds nitrates?
does it change the water at all?


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## bpimm (Jun 12, 2006)

The easiest way to determine if the soil will have an effect on the water is to do a bottle test. add 1" of soil to a jar cover with 1" of the gravel you intend to use and slowly fill with water. see what happens. wait a few days and test the water parameters. also fill a jar with just the water for a control to test against. 

Brian


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## Muirner (Jan 9, 2007)

Jolly gardner did not effect my water paramaters at all. My ammonia went up by .25ppm, and my nitrate went 0-5ppm. All and all putting a few plants in should help to clear this up... Nitrite stayed at 0.

EDIT: I paid $1.94 for a 50LB bag at Home Depot... Downside was, the soil was frozen lol


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## bristles (Mar 7, 2006)

I never use potting soil because of the possible risks, I use top soil from Ace hardware stores. The Ace brand has served me well, in many tanks over a number of years and has always been consistent. I don't know if you have Ace hardware stores in your area.


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## sean-820 (Dec 26, 2006)

whats the real difference with good quality potting soil or top soil?
any other potting soils or topsoils that i could use


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## bristles (Mar 7, 2006)

Potting soil often contains fertilizers in unknown quantity's & amendments that help keep the soil friable these amendments often cause havoc in aquarium use by floating or are inorganic & react adversely submerged. I have found that plain top soil seems to have less risk, but this is just my experience. It appears that other folks have used potting soil with no adverse affects, but all the people in our local aquarium gardening club at UW Madison stick with "Ace hardware" top soil. It is also quite inexpensive. You say that you are raising swords, they are very heavy root feeders & will benefit from the addition of the soil. I have a number of tanks that I have grown swords in, some with a layer of top soil under the substrate & some with just laterite & quartz gravel. They always have more robust growth in the soil tanks, another method of boosting sword growth without having a soil layer under the entire substrate is to make "mudcicles" with wet topsoil in ice cube trays & pushing the frozen cube into the gravel at the base of the plants as you would with root tabs.


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## 954baby (Feb 8, 2008)

mudcicles is a pretty good diea.


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## lauraleellbp (Jan 31, 2008)

Schultz Aquatic Soil hasn't been mentioned yet. Developed for pond use- I haven't used it myself but have read good things about it, and seen some lovely pics where it was used.


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## Homer_Simpson (Apr 2, 2007)

lauraleellbp said:


> Schultz Aquatic Soil hasn't been mentioned yet. Developed for pond use- I haven't used it myself but have read good things about it, and seen some lovely pics where it was used.


SAS is definitely worth considering. I have grown plants in it in the past and quite honestly IME, I have witnessed equal growth to that of plants that were grown in Fluorite under the same conditions. The Fluorite costed me $38 and the same sized bag of SAS costed me $7.

As far as potting soil, I have read mixed things. And the plants that I am growing in my 5 gallon hex tank with Top Soil are not doing all that well and have not been for some time. Nothing(fish/shrimp) seems to live long in that tank either eventhough ammonia and nitrite levels are zero and the tank is fully cycled. I suspect something nasty is circulating in that tank so I may need to eventually tear it down, bleach it and start from scratch.

It is too bad no one has done a study comparing plant growth in aquariums using different brands of top soil. I really believe that all soil is not created equal and this may account for why some people have excellent results with top soil as a substrate while others experience major failure.


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