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a question about dirt and walstad bowls


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alrighty. exams are approaching its end and i'm thinking of starting up two small planted Walstad-inspired tanks (one's actually a giant fish bowl that i thought i should put to good use)

so for a choice of dirt i have 'premium organic potting mix' that my local garden centre makes themselves.

Not sure exactly what's in it, but on the back it says that it's made from organic stuff; "composted pinebark and contains bacteria, fungi and protozoa, may contain mineral and fertilizer additives." it has a nitrogen content higher than normal potting mix and includes some PeatBlend to increase waterholding level, horticultural sand and slow release base fertilizer.

i also have brunning's organic garden soil as a choice.

are any of these usable? or should i wait 'till the weekend and go out and buy some cheaper dirt?

also, i'm thinking of capping the dirt with brunning's propagating sand. anyone used this stuff before?

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If it contains added slow release fertilisers it doesn't seem to organic. Might be a bit acidic as well, you want to try and avoid peat.

I've used the Brunnings one though, it was good if I remember correctly, I would go for that, maybe mix it with some sand because if I rememebr correctly it smelt strongly off manure, I mixed mine with zeolite. Or that may have been a different brand, if it doesn't smell of manure ignore that advice lol. Remember to mix in some crushed marble or shell grit to stop it going sour.

That sand looks really good in a tank, don't go to deep though, may 2cm with the sand.

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yeah, but i think i've heard somewhere that the 'garden soils' don't work very well and it has to be potting mix?

looks like i'll be going to bunnings on the weekend then. do i just go for the cheapest potting mix with nothing in it?

-thanks matt

and where so i get marble from? will crushed abalone shells work instead?

Edited by MT Syndrome
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If you are using the propagating sand to cap, make sure to rinse it thoroughly, as it contains a high amount of clay and will cloud your water. I'm going to be using this substrate recipe for my 4ft tank re-scape and thought I might set up a large shrimp bowl using the same substrate.

Have a look at this article by Diana Walstad on setting up small bowls and tanks for shrimp. You may not want to set these up for shrimp yourself, but it may answer a few questions you have about setting up...

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I've used garden soil with no problem. Our potting mixes here are usally peices of bark and not suitable. Diana also advocates the use of garden soil as well I beleive :)

That one should be fine, just went and found the bag, had some left, doesn't smell of manure. The cheap ones I have found are usally made of bark.

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