How to make an aquarium soil for the plants
Forthe bottom layer mix potting vermiculite (from any nursury) with enoughwater to wet the vermiculite well but not so much that it floats.Squeeze and knead the vermiculite to get as much air out of it aspossible, and also to separate the different layers of the vermiculitegranules, making the mixture as fine as possible. When your hands looklike they're covered in gold dust, you're done. Now add some soil thatyou have dug from outside (garden topsoil). See the suggestions forsoils at the end of this section. You should mix in enough of this toturn the vermiculite from its shimmery golden color to grey. Forexample, I used about two gallons of Yolo loam with enough vermiculiteto make a 3-inch layer in a 55 gallon tank, or about a quart mixed withenough vermiculite to make a 1.5-inch layer in a 10 gallon tank. Theprecise amounts are not important. After mixing in the soil, themixture should no longer be runny with water. If it is, your tank willbe quite cloudy when you add the water to fill it, so add more soil andvermiculite until it is no longer runny with water, but comparable toprepared cake mix before you cook it. This bottom layer forms a rich,soft medium for roots to penetrate into and obtain nutrients from. Thislayer should be as thick as possible, within aesthetic limits.
Thetop layer is simply sand. You need about a 1 inch or more layer, simplyto keep the lower layer from clouding the water. The best is #3sandblasting grit, which our local gravel yard sells in 100 lb. bagsfor $10. Any sand that is not from the sea and is not too fine will do.#3 sand is about 2 mm in diameter. Just pour it on top, and level itout. Wash it first if you think it needs it. This layer should be atleast 1" thick, and not more than 2".
Now you can carefully addthe water to the tank. Put down some paper or something flat at thebottom of the tank to keep the soil from being stirred up while you addthe water. If you are careful, the water will be crystal clear when youfinish. If you stirred up the soil by accident, it will take 2-5 daysto clear up, so be patient. A small puff of soil will come up when youuproot a plant, but does not present a problem. After you have plantedthe plants, you can add a small amount of solid fertilizer to thebottom layer of the substrate.
For those interested in what to lookfor in a soil that will grow aquatic plants well, here is additionalinfo. Don't use bagged potting soil, peat moss, or compost (They willdecay under water and prevent good root growth. Try to find a soil lowin organic matter and high in fine clay particles. It should not besandy soil or very firm, fine clay either, but somewhere in the middle.Sand has insufficient cation exchange capacity and is too coarse tocontact the roots on their entire surface area. These are the two mostimportant factors which influence how well roots can obtain nutrientions from the soil. Very fine clay (close to Play-Doh texture) mightcloud the water when you uproot plants in the aquarium. If you are astudent, you might want to go to the university library and look up thetypes of soils in your area and their properties in government soilsurvey books which usually have maps telling you where to find thedifferent soils, as well as important chemical properties. You want asoil that has a high cation exchange capacity and low organic mattercontent, and has metal ions which are present in only moderatequantities (too much can be toxic to plants). I have used "Yolo loam"from the UC Davis campus with great success in my home tanks. It wasnot chosen specially, but it is just what is available locally.
Here is the analysis:
Yolo Loam (from Yolo county, CA)
sand (2mm to 0.05mm) 28.7%
silt (50 microns to 2 microns) 46.4%
clay (< 2 microns) 24.9%
pH 6.7
carbonates (not tested)
phosphorus in soil 12.5 ppm
Fe as Fe2O3 (not tested)
Ca 10.5 me/100g
Mg 10.8 me/100g
Na 0.3 me/100g
K 0.1 me/100g
cation exchange capacity 26.5 me/100g
base saturation 81.9
organic carbon 1.38%
organic nitrogen 0.125%
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