MatPat

Since there are going to be a few more of us setting up some tanks with the Soilmaster Select in the next month or so, I took a few pics while setting mine up tonight.

I added a dusting of peat to the bottom of the tank


added some Soilmaster to hold the peat down, and added mulm to the soilmaster


added more soilmaster (pic 3)


and partially filled the tank


I did not rinse the Soilmaster and filled the tank very slowly. The first ten gallons or so probably took me at least 15 minutes. I also added about 6ppm of KNO3 and 1.2ppm of KH2PO4 to the initial fill water (based on total tank volume). I'm thinking this may get absorbed by the soilmaster since it seems to initially be hydroscopic. Maybe it will absorb a bit of the fertilizers.

I was originally going to fill the tank and let the debris settle out overnight. It is clear enough that I figured I would stop and go ahead and put the plants in tomorrow. If it needs a water change after the plants go in, I will do one then. The Soilmaster Select seems to hold the plants down much better than the Schultz Aquatic Plant Soil I hae in my 55g and it is mixed with Flourite also! Might be due to the smaller grain size, but I think I will still add the sand tomorrow...

I thought I would add that I did not rinse the Soilmaster at all. That is why it looks so light in color when initally added.