# with the soil thing again?!



## t2lieu (Feb 26, 2008)

So i found an article http://www.aquariumfish.com/aquariumfish/detail.aspx?aid=3076&cid=58&search=

its bout 500 words
guestimating 2 pages of the metro lol
also i was thinkin of a thicker than usual top layer of gravel to avoid havin disturbance of the soil

yah let me know what you think


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

I don't quite get the first part of your post...is there an article that you forgot to attach?


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## Calmer (Mar 9, 2008)

I am guessing you are referring to a Walstad-type natural planted tank. I have never tried this type of setup before but it does work with a bit of sunlight and low fluorescent lighting. Only fish waste for plant nutrients and about 50% water change every 6 months or so. Here is a good reference to what I am talking about,

http://thegab.org/Articles/WalstadTank.html


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## t2lieu (Feb 26, 2008)

thanks, exactly the word i was lookin for walstad huh i'll check it out =D



Calmer said:


> I am guessing you are referring to a Walstad-type natural planted tank. I have never tried this type of setup before but it does work with a bit of sunlight and low fluorescent lighting. Only fish waste for plant nutrients and about 50% water change every 6 months or so. Here is a good reference to what I am talking about,
> 
> http://thegab.org/Articles/WalstadTank.html


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## Calmer (Mar 9, 2008)

Your welcome, anytime  
I would probably cover the soil with about 2 inches of gravel. You don't want the underlying soil to contact the water above the gravel or else you will see just about every known type of algae there is.  
Naturally the soil looses it's fertilizing properties in about a year or two depending on the amount set under the gravel.
The great thing about the Walstad method is that we can apply it to the letter or take bits and pieces of the setup to suit ourselves such as low light and just the fish wastes as fertilizer. Add that with pressurized co2 injection and monthly water changes can work very well. We may not get the same fast results if we heavily fertilize the aquarium with 5 watts per gallon. At that speed there isn't much time to correct problems and the weed trimming gets to be a chore. But I digress


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