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How-To: Mineralized Soil Substrate, by Aaron Talbot

Step 1 –Rinse the Topsoil

Take the topsoil and distribute in the container of your choice for soaking purposes. I use large Plastic Containers. You must use topsoil and not potting soil. Potting soil has additives to avoid such as fertilizers, vermiculite and peat moss.
Fill the Plastic Container with water so the water level is about 5 centimetres above the top of the soil. Stir it around a bit to help break up any big clumps and evenly distribute the water. Let this soak for a day or two. Come back and slowly dump the water off of the top. Now add in more water so the soil is well covered. This water changing process helps to rinse the soil of any possible fertilizers or other harmful water soluble chemicals.

Step 2 – Allow the Topsoil to Dry

Pour the excess water out of the container as you did when changing the water. Lay out the large plastic sheet, preferably in direct sunlight. Dump out the muddy soil and spread it relatively thin over the sheet. Allow the soil to dry completely. This can take a day or two and depends greatly on how warm the temperature is where you are drying the soil. This part of the process could be done indoors. Due to its messy nature, I suggest doing it outdoors if possible. When the soil is completely dry, add it back into the soaking container.
The drying process is the part that allows the microbes in the soil to begin mineralizing the nutrients. Exposing it to air oxygenates the soil.

Step 3 – Repeat the Rinsing and Drying Cycles

Repeat steps 1 and 2 three to four times. Repeating the steps is necessary to further mineralize the soil and remove any lingering fertilizers. The soil mineralizes the most during the time while it is still moist and exposed to air on the large tarp. By soaking it over again we reintroduce the needed moisture for this process to take place. When the soil is near fully mineralized it will have a very grainy texture. Another way to tell that the soil is ready is by smell. There will be virtually no smell coming from the soil once it is mineralized.

Step 4 – Sift the Soil to Remove Debris

Screening the soil can help to remove any large organic materials that the short mineralization process employed thus far cannot remove. I have found that adding this step to the process helps to further eliminate algae issues after a tank is newly setup. The resulting sifted soil will feel like airy sand.

Step 5 – Add the Clay and the PFP

Now that you have a mineralized soil to use as the substrate, you need to add in the red clay. Estimate how much clay you will need so that the resulting mixture of soil and clay is about 5% to 10% clay. To add the clay, dry the clay in the oven at a temperature of 100 to 150 Celsius let it cool and then crush it into a powder and add it to the soil. You must add enough water to the mixture to form a nice runny mud.

Step 6 – Create an Aesthetic Border

Now this is the fun part of setting up the aquarium. Add the gravel of your choice just along the front and side edges of the aquarium bottom. Wet it just enough that it holds a slope and press it up against the sides. Doing this step ensures that we will not see the different layers of substrate when viewing the tank from the front and sides. I have use Fine Black gravel as a substrate top layer. I prefer this coarse sand for many reasons. It is very dense and holds a slope for a long period of time. The finer granules also allow for easy planting.



Step 7 – Add Dolomite and Potash

Sprinkle a light dusting of both dolomite and potash on the bottom glass of the tank. The bottom of the glass should still be somewhat visible.



Step 8 – Add the Mineralized Mud

Fill in the borders you’ve created with the runny mud mixture of mineralized soil and clay. This layer should be about 2,5 cm deep.

Step 9 – Top with Gravel

Cover the mud with more of the same border gravel from step 6. Cover the mud by about 2,5 cm in the front to 5cm in the back of the tank to create a nice sloping substrate effect.


Step 10 - Slowly Fill the Aquarium and Begin Planting

Begin planting and filling the aquarium as you would any other planted aquarium. Use caution when filling the tank with water. Go slowly to avoid disturbing the substrate and uncovering the soil.

I hope this has inspired some of you to try something new. I am sure you will be pleased with the results.