Floutire Black Sand Cap

[Dutch]

Hi Gerry,

hmm, I may have calculated too much then. If you can get by with a depth of 2" then I would need what, 10-11 bags of the 9L? Dimensions of the tank are 60X24 (roughly).
With shipping that's about $410.00 - 440.00 with shipping making up a third of that cost.
Hence my thoughts about using soil/clay with a cap.

I do appreciate your feedback

Thank you.

[1077]

Just re-did substrate in 80 gallon low tech tank as follows.
Removed approx four inches of substrate that was 80 lbs of eco- complete,capped with fine gravel. I left quite a bit of mulm in the botom before adding plain ,unscented cat litter that I got from Walmart to a depth of about one centimeter.Bag says it is natural clay product.
On top of this,I added half a 1.5 cubic yard bag of Miracle Grow Organic choice potting mix, also from Walmart.
I then capped this with approx 3to 4 centimeter's of Black diamond Blasting media which even though I did not rinse it,, clouded the water for only a few hours before clearing the next morning (bag claims product is washed but you may wish to rinse anyhoo?)
I saw that there were two grain sizes for the black diamond blasting media, 20/40 and 30/60 and I chose the 20/40 which is what I saw mentioned on other forums by those who have used this product.
Is about the same grain size as flourite black sand and WAY cheaper.
Product also is said to contain calcium,magnesium,and Iron but perhaps in small amounts ?
I decided to give it a go and have yet to return any fishes to the tank but did re-plant all the plant's in this substrate and shall see what the result's are.
Am in hopes that the cat litter will help hold nutrient's from miracle grow and soon to be fish waste,fish food, snail poop(MTS),etc and I very much like the black cap with Blasting media.

[Dutch]

Thanks 1077, I got 3 bags of the 20/40 from tractor supply, boy that stuff is dense (heavy).
Going to give that a try

[Dutch]

Ok, so I'm still undecided on my soil cap. I have a ton of the aquariumplants.com substrate that has a much better CEC over the non-existing CEC content of the black diamond blasting compound. The problem is the stuff is so light.

Will this hold the soil down, or am I asking for trouble?

[Dutch]

Ok scratch that last post, that stuff from aquariumplants.com will not hold the soil down. way too light.

[mike]

Hi Dutch,

So what was your final choice for the cap? Have you started the whole DSM with the MTS? I'm interested in how this will go, I'll be starting my 120G in about 1 month and will be doing a DSM also, and most likely the MTS.

Mike

[Dutch]

i ended up going with the Black Diamond Blasting compound since I am going to be dosing EI as well. Covered the mud nicely, and as Tom stated the capillary action of the small grain size pulls the water up nicely.

[mike]

It looks like it's coming together nicely. I was thinking of going with Black Diamand also but I'm having a hard time finding it in Canada. I'm also having a hard time finding some nice drift wood. Tom has some nice pieces but I'm pretty sure shipping is in the $100 range, which is way to much for me. I can get some at the LFS but they don't have much character, yours look nice.

Mike

[PapstBenediktXVI]

Hello there,

quick question: do you know what kind of wood this is? looks much different than the logs you usually see in the shops....

cheers
papst

[Dutch]

That would be Tom's Manzanita, you can find it in the trade forum.
Ty for the feedback, planting begins today!