How-To: Mineralized Soil Substrate, by Aaron Talbot - Page 5 - Library

AaronT · 09-09-2008, 03:55 PM

It doesn't change them as far as I know. Honestly, I don't really test my water much, but the last time I did it was pretty close to the tap.

oregon aqua · 09-21-2008, 02:46 PM

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I laughed pretty hard!

I bought top soil from homer depot and all it was, sand and mulch; I strained most of the heavy particulates and I ended up with pure sand.. dissapointing...
Than I decided to dig up some old fashioned soil in the back yard, heavy, mud-making stuff that worms crawl in. I followed the procedure, but I took it a step further and used a large kitchen strainer to remove all but the smallest pieces of particulates. In the end, I ended up with "black water" and let it settle for a few weeks. Some of the finest mud ever! then let it dry, wet again, etc. and all in all, it feels like a a bed of thick foamy sponge beneath the gravely sand I layed on top. plants love it and roors really start growing in the substrate!

Im happy i could make you laugh. I also hope people learned to check the bag for whats actually in it. On the bright side im using it to grow some emrsed plants outside it works pretty good lol.

KraKen · 10-05-2008, 11:24 PM

I thought I'd point out that Muriate of potash is just an archaic term for potassium chloride.

mgarone · 10-07-2008, 08:57 AM

This is very intriguing and I am hoping to use this method for my new 29 gallon tank. I was just wondering if you could store the mineralized soil in plastic bags maybe? I am in college and my apartment has no backyard or hose for that matter. I am heading home for a break and was just wondering if I could do it at home and store it to bring back with me? If anyone knows anything about that I would appreciate some insight. Thanks.

AaronT · 10-07-2008, 02:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mgarone

This is very intriguing and I am hoping to use this method for my new 29 gallon tank. I was just wondering if you could store the mineralized soil in plastic bags maybe? I am in college and my apartment has no backyard or hose for that matter. I am heading home for a break and was just wondering if I could do it at home and store it to bring back with me? If anyone knows anything about that I would appreciate some insight. Thanks.

Sure, there's no reason you can't keep it in bags, buckets or any other type of container.

mgarone · 10-07-2008, 06:15 PM

awesome! thank you!

cah925 · 10-08-2008, 08:27 AM

Does anyone have any extra dolomite they could part with?

gasteriaphile · 11-25-2008, 04:30 PM

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Originally Posted by cah925

Does anyone have any extra dolomite they could part with?

Just keep in mind that the dolomite is for those folks with water that is too acidic! Not everyone needs dolomite. Out here in the Western U.S.A. most of our soils and water is basic, i.e. alkaline, i.e. high pH. Check your water's pH first before automatically adding dolomite. FWIW, Breck

bonklers · 11-29-2008, 03:09 PM

Does it help/speed up the process when blowing a computer fan over it? I guess it would aerate the soil some more and evaporate the water faster, right?

AaronT · 11-29-2008, 07:17 PM

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Originally Posted by bonklers

Does it help/speed up the process when blowing a computer fan over it? I guess it would aerate the soil some more and evaporate the water faster, right?

I can't see that helping all that much. Patience is really what gets the job done.