The Soil Substrate Planted Tank - a How to Guide

[Tim Harrison]

This thread is for the general discussion of the Article The Soil Substrate Planted Tank - a How to Guide. Please add to the discussion here.

 

[Mr.Shenanagins]

Well this is the GOAT IMO, not biased or anything lol. Tim after all these years, is there anything you’d change or do differently? And have you considered starting up another tank in this fashion?

 

[Kwyet]

Very interesting and well-done article!

 

[Tim Harrison]

Thank you both, very much appreciated

Tim after all these years, is there anything you’d change or do differently? And have you considered starting up another tank in this fashion?

For sure, I'm still busy renovating my home atm, but hopefully soon I'll have time to set up a similar tank. I have a 120x60x45(h)cm. Was thinking something along the lines of an Amazon theme with emergent planting. Might Add CO2 as well but only enough to turn the drop checker green, not lime green.

 

[ElleDee]

Tim, you mention in the article that you have gone deeper than 4 cm for your soil layer. What's your maximum and did you make any adjustments as you went deeper?

I ask because one of the biggest changes I made with my most recent build was to go deeper than I had before going from 1" to around 2" deep, and I reduced the proportion of organic ingredients and used a lot more material to add structure to resist compaction and allow for increased root infiltration and water movement. This strategy was bit of a swing in the dark, but I think it's been successful at not turning into a toxic mess.

I appreciate you showing that soil substrates aren't incompatible with more elegant scapes and higher energy approaches. Soil gets a bad rep in some circles!

 

[Tim Harrison]

Hi Elle, I think I've gone to about 7cm, maybe deeper, I can't remember exactly. Don't think I did anything different, I usually just use a 1:1 mix of aquatic compost and moss peat with added grit for structure. It worked well with big root feeders like crypts and vallis. Plant roots are very leaky structures and will oxygenate the rhizosphere over time.

I guess deeper substrate also has a greater redox gradient and provides a more varied or stratified environment and therefore perhaps greater microorganism diversity and abundance. Which in turn could mean increased denitrification, breakdown of organic matter, and release of CO2 and nutrients and an increase in nutrient solubility.

 

[Mr.Shenanagins]

I’ve recently started using my cuttings/waste as an opportunity to compost and enrich my soil supply. It’s obviously a long term plan, but I don’t plan on doing a rescape anytime soon or even another tank. But when I do, I’ll have some nutrient rich soil derived from my current tanks production.

 

[TRyan]

What a great article. Much appreciated!

 

[Tim Harrison]

Thank you @TRyan