RIP Kobe Bryant 😢 Hit that thumbs up button for me!👍 Hope you guys enjoyed the video! Thank you so much for the support! Want to see more setup videos using dirt? ✌🙂

I know this is an older video but I am so glad I found it. Dustin Fish Tanks charges $55 for their dirt packs and I kinda figured out that Top Soil doesn’t have anything in it. The price has gone up to $2.39 and that sure beats $55.

I have a problem, Jay, with your videos. Every time I watch I am tempted to go out and get myself another tank. I just like the way you set everything up.

@ThePlantedTankTV

4 жыл бұрын

Haha I feel like that all the time man! Thank you so much brother! ✌😁🙏😂

@leedrake9877

4 жыл бұрын

Yes. Same here. Jay, your tanks are beautiful.

@ThePlantedTankTV

4 жыл бұрын

@@leedrake9877 Thank you so much man! 🙏🙏🙏

I am LOVING this tank and set-up Jay...thanks for the information in regards to topsoil vs. potting soil...makes perfect sense and I agree 100%. I also use the Seachem Flourish tabs with the Osmocote for the exact same reasons as you and I find the combination kicks ass. Thanks again!

@ThePlantedTankTV

4 жыл бұрын

Yeah man loads of people have success with it! I find my plants love it! Tank is doing so well! Thanks for all the love man! ✌🙂

Love this set up, good inspiration to restart my 10 gallon. Thanks for the soil tips!

I use Scotts top soil, sifted it, and boy howdy! My plants are loving it, I use remineralized RO, with Seachem Equilibrium, Acid buffer, and Alkaline buffer up to 200 TDS, 4-5 GH / KH, PH 7.0 the fish and plants do best with these parameters. Going for a dutchscape no time flat, it'll be time for a trim. Top soil is highly recommended

I never thought about it but i'll use top soil. thanks Jay.

@ThePlantedTankTV

4 жыл бұрын

No thank you for watching! ✌🙂

Beautiful jay! And seriously great deal on the soil. I’m going to be redoing my 10, thinking of going topsoil route!

@ThePlantedTankTV

4 жыл бұрын

Topsoil and pool filter sand! They save you so much money but with the same results! Thank you so much! Glad to see you over here! ✌😁

very good info on planted tanks for beginners. ( keep it simple always works)

That looks awesome Jay, I have a few tanks here that I have used topsoil and then a small amount of gravel on top of in pots or the bottom parts of milk containers that I have plants in and it works just great for me.

@ThePlantedTankTV

4 жыл бұрын

That's awesome man thank you so much for watching and for the support! ✌🙂

Beautiful Interesting planted tank.

@ThePlantedTankTV

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you so much! ✌🙂

Beautiful tank

@ThePlantedTankTV

4 жыл бұрын

🙂🙏🙏🙏

Your tanks are always so clear I'm jealous...I've been struggling with cloudy water these past 3 weeks

@ThePlantedTankTV

4 жыл бұрын

That's no good! You know what's making it cloudy? Thank you so much btw!

@jermainemathis9865

4 жыл бұрын

Either from excess organic waste (which I've cleaned most of), my tank isnt 100% cycled, or my filter isnt good enough. Or something else I havent considered. We'll see

Interesting planted tank. I wish you good luck, my friend.

@ThePlantedTankTV

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you so much brother! ✌😁

tank still looking lovely

@ThePlantedTankTV

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you so much! 🙂

Interesting video mate👍🏻 definitely going to have to try this top soil method at some point!🌱

@ThePlantedTankTV

4 жыл бұрын

For sure man! I plan on using it a ton more often!

Your tanks are so gorgeous. I get inspired and want to re- do a tank or go out and buy a new one, Lol. Then I start drooling over plants and driftwood online. Ya killin' me here, 😂

@ThePlantedTankTV

4 жыл бұрын

Haha Same! I feel the same way when I see someone else's tank! Thank you so much for the love and support!✌🙂🙏

Awesome scape bro, thanks for the tip, I was afraid I made a poor choice for using top soil due to it floating. After viewing your settup my only concern is that I may need to add more sand.

It’s looking pretty sweet! I finally got my Clear 16 and got it setup. I didn’t use dirt though. It’s mostly all epiphyte plants - buce and anubius. I am thinking I should move things around a little and put some dwarf sag on one side.

@ThePlantedTankTV

4 жыл бұрын

I've always wanted to do an epiphyte plant only tank. Low light too. It would be so easy haha

Tank is looking bad ass bro. Great video. Good tips and love the scape. Making me feel like starting another one. 🌱🌱🌱 I use perlite in some other grows. It’s main purpose is to keep the soil aerated as to not get super mucky and strangle the roots. But that’s for other types of grows😉🤪🤟🏻🍻😂

@ThePlantedTankTV

4 жыл бұрын

Man you gotta do another old school type video in front of one of your planted tanks! I've watched you babble so many times over and over haha. 🙏🙏🙏

The tanks looks great especially the S. Repens. I have bad luck with them, they just melt. The idea of top soil is brilliant as I know many people have nutrient leaching with potting soil.

@ThePlantedTankTV

4 жыл бұрын

Have you tried the tissue culture version? The potted ones don't convert well at all but the TC ones do so much better for me! ✌🙂

@seannunes2041

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you. I will give TC a try.

@ThePlantedTankTV

4 жыл бұрын

@@seannunes2041 I got mine at petsmart believe it or not. haha

So...i love plants, always have and even do bonsai. Im now veing sucked into this hobby too lol and im having trouble deciding on a decent filter. At the moment, I have a couple 10gal tanks and one 20gal tank and I see most of your tanks are around the same size if not the same. Its like everyone else here on youtube are big breeders or have bigger tanks but i just dont have that kinda dough. Anyway, love the vids bro but yea, what filter would you reccomend? Ive got to order the filter then my plants and ill be setting up my 1st tank in about a week. Thx in advance

Great video thank you! I have a question. I see you’re using topsoil with sand. Is there a reason for this or do you just prefer sand? I currently have sand myself without the soil and would like to add soil. Do you have to worry about shifting the sand around when cleaning to prevent the toxic pockets or is that not an issue since it’s not too thick? Also, does sand help keep nutrients down better than other substrates? Or would something like Seachem flourite black work ok being it’s fairly fine.

I use jiffy organic seed starter mix capped with very fine sand that kinda feels like mud , no potting soil has leached out , you do have to Be patient for the plants to establish but when the roots finally get to the soil , they take off growing to there full potential . I have one tank almost 2 yr old and still growing plants and keeping them green.

Is it safe use only vermicompost as the base capped with sand? Or do I need to add soil or just soak the compost in water for a day or two to remove the excess nutrients?

I also have a question about lighting when first starting out of planted aquarium should the lighting be the brightest or the lightest because of all the fertilizers that are new in the tank ??

Can you recommend a soil I can buy on Amazon, walmart or eBay? I live in the Caribbean and can only order from those sires.

of course I would see this video about using top soil after going out and buying organic garden soil and spent hours sifting it out! lol, but on a side note if you buy gardening soil as opposed to potting soil it doesn't have any vermiculite or pearllite in them! great video though have watched many dirted tank videos for research before starting my project and this is the first one I've seen that mentions top soil it does make allot of sense because you can control the amount of nutrients you want to have more bye adding root tabs or what not! wish I would have seen this 2week's ago! lol btw; just got a new sub! 😉

@ThePlantedTankTV

4 жыл бұрын

Haha let me know how it goes! Thank you so much for the sub!

what are some other brands of topsoil?

@ThePlantedTankTV

4 жыл бұрын

Seriously though! ✌🙂

you have raised all valid points and topsoil is certainly much easier to work with especially for beginners. However, wouldn't using potting soil increase the longevity of the setup by a lot? I understand that potting soil has issues of nutrients leaching into the water column and that can be disastrous for beginners. What I want to know is that would this issue of nutrients leaching into the water and causing algae persist even after say a month of setting up the tank with plants and doing frequent water changes to take out the nutrients from water? After a month or so the plants would settle in and the nutrient leak into the water would reduce. We can add the fishes at this point, right? And the tank should be good to use with weekly water changes? Am I correct or did I miss any point? The reason I want to go with potting mix is because of the longevity it provides. Sure there will be initial hassles but I think I am experienced enough to handle them. What are you views?

Thanks for pointing out the difference between topsoil and potting soil permits etc , you make a good point.

I’m thinking the reason why you can go without the water changes is because you’re using a canister filter that helps absorb the ammonia and break it down and its bios system

Quick question did you rinse the sand before you added it to the tank? Liked all your tanks btw... keep up the good work Thanks

@ThePlantedTankTV

4 жыл бұрын

Nope! Pool filter sand is fairly clean!

@richardcruz7704

4 жыл бұрын

Cool thanks

Hey Jay! How much topsoil and sand did you use? I'm going to try my hand at this.

@ThePlantedTankTV

4 жыл бұрын

I put about an inch and a half of topsoil and about an inch and a half-two inches of sand on top! My crypts are growing faster than I have ever gotten them to grow before! Really loving this setup!

So I just set up my first planted tank with organic top soil and sand. It had pieces of wood and I didn’t think about it. Now I’m worried the wood is pine which will be toxic for future fish. Are the pieces of wood usually pine? Will I be alright?

@ThePlantedTankTV

Жыл бұрын

You should be okay. Since you are using sand it should leach to much. Just make sure in the first couple months or so you do some good 70% water changes and you’ll be just fine!

I have a question about sand caps ?? I love that you’re using convenient to materials there from hardware stores My question is what about the sand can it be achieved from a hardware store or should it be a bio sand or non bio sand from an aquarium store??

@ThePlantedTankTV

4 ай бұрын

Buying bio sand is a waste of money in my opinion. SafeTsorb 100% fullers earth from tractor supply is my new recommendation moving forward. It's 12$ for a 33lb bag and it grows plants like crazy because it's a kiln fire dried baked clay.

@BassManStrikes

3 ай бұрын

​@ThePlantedTankTV I used the SafeTSorb from tractor supply and it grew diatoms for a year, really bad, so bad plants would be covered in a few days and it was impossible to keep them clean and everything would die....don't know if I got a bad batch that leached a endless supply of silica. Anyways I switched to a fine gravel 1/16 to 1/8 grain size and the diatoms died off in a matter of days and plants started growing.

@BassManStrikes

3 ай бұрын

I like the HTH pool filter sand , it's a bigger grain and needs little to no rinsing.

Have you seen some of those steel lily pipes?

@ThePlantedTankTV

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah but there aren't really any good cheap ones in the U.S. that don't rust.

Great vid. How often do you top up you tank? My tank water evaporates really fast and i top it up almost every 2-3 days.

@ThePlantedTankTV

4 жыл бұрын

Yeup. About the same for me. Haha. It's worse in the winter time because your heater drys up the air in your home. Totally normal. ✌🙂

0:39 those s repens looks really healthy..sadly mine melted after 10 days of planting

How often should you change the topsoil if ever it run out of nutrients?

@ThePlantedTankTV

2 жыл бұрын

I’d say once every six months it’ll need replaced.

I wish I had seen this before setting up my nano tank today. I had both topsoil and organic potting mix. I was going to mix them but decided to go with just the potting mix.😶

@ThePlantedTankTV

4 жыл бұрын

I have them mixed in my 29 gallon. It'll be just fine man! ✌🙂

@TheHobbyist412

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the reply. This is my first aquarium since getting out the hobby a few years ago, so I am hoping for the best.

@ThePlantedTankTV

4 жыл бұрын

@@TheHobbyist412 yeah just do a couple big water changes the first two weeks to deal with the nutrients leaching so you dont get algae and then you can just let it simmer. Haha

@TheHobbyist412

4 жыл бұрын

@@ThePlantedTankTV Thanks again.

@ThePlantedTankTV

4 жыл бұрын

@@TheHobbyist412 🙏

Would you recommend that light for a setup with red stem plants?

@ThePlantedTankTV

4 жыл бұрын

Oh absolutely man. This light is mad strong. I can't even run it at 100% or I'll get algae. Haha. I keep mine at 60% or lower.

@josueenriquez3759

4 жыл бұрын

@@ThePlantedTankTV thanks man. I'll order one

@ThePlantedTankTV

4 жыл бұрын

@@josueenriquez3759 If you have a rimless tank look into Chihiros leds on ebay!

@hotwater8473

3 жыл бұрын

Does the light come with little mounting brackets for the rim of the tank? I’m thinking of trying my luck with a planted tank and the WB 10gal. Just stumbled upon your Chanel great stuff!

How many tanks do you having going at any given time and how much time do you devote to their upkeep.

@ThePlantedTankTV

4 жыл бұрын

I Usually keep 4 tanks going at once. I give them as much attention as I think they need. Some tanks don't need anything sometimes a tank may need a ton of water changes to get rid of algae. Always showing them attention.

If I start a plated tank do I need to add fish right away

@ThePlantedTankTV

4 жыл бұрын

You can add them whenever you want unless you use potting soil because of all the excess ammonia. ✌🙂

@talileonard2553

4 жыл бұрын

Always wait a week to two weeks before adding fish once you’ve got your tank started

@ThePlantedTankTV

4 жыл бұрын

@@talileonard2553 Just in case you didn't already know. The preferred source of nitrogen for plants in ammonia. So The ammonia gets absorbed by the plants rather quickly and doesn't harm your fish at all. A lot of people including my self and George farmer have made videos about this topic. No need to "cycle" a planted aquarium. I set this tank up and added all livestock in the same day haven't had a single issue. On top of that if you are worried about ammonia build up then just do a big water change. Ammonia isn't as scary as people make it out to be.

@talileonard2553

4 жыл бұрын

The Planted Tank i have never had a planted tank before. And ammonia is what made my fish sick and I couldn’t ever get new fish, so it was the source of my problems and we couldn’t get it to go away. That’s good to know though if I have a planted tank

The problem with topsoil alone (and you touched on it) is that it is low in nutrients and has low longevity. You may as well just stick with aquasoil. Potting compost, sieved and properly capped with a coarse sand will not overly cause massive ammonia spikes. Even better, if you add stuff like osmocote and bonemeal to the mix, your tank will last for years.

@andreashessler838

2 жыл бұрын

*just to add, you need organic potting compost with no added chemical fertilizer. Anything with loam (which is basically sand, peat and grit) and lime is great 👍

@ThePlantedTankTV

2 жыл бұрын

The reason I chose topsoil was because it is just so much cheaper than everything else and toy can add what ever nutrients you want to it to increase its longevity. It's literally 3$ a bag and 11$ for the pool sand. You could setup up a 10g tank 5-6 times for that. Try doing that with aquasoil. That was my point. lol aquasoil is literally 50$+ a bag. Some people don't have that kind of money to spend.

@andreashessler838

2 жыл бұрын

@@ThePlantedTankTV I agree with you and have done the same thing regards to avoiding aquasoil for the same reason. My point was regards to nutrients and longevity. People seem to be very afraid of using a nutrient rich potting compost + additives (they then go out and use a nutrient rich aquasoil). There won't be massive ammonia spikes if it is capped well. It will also last forever. Even better if you also use a cycled filter as well.

Your tank is just magnificent but seriously replace the plastic by lili pipes !!

@ThePlantedTankTV

4 жыл бұрын

I already had glass lily pipes on it if you watch the setup video. but the intake broke and slit my finger open. So I'm good.

Sifted compost

@ThePlantedTankTV

4 жыл бұрын

Topsoil already has compost in it.

@pk-pj4sz

4 жыл бұрын

The Planted Tank It’s got a whole bunch of other shit though

@pk-pj4sz

4 жыл бұрын

I make my own compost

@ThePlantedTankTV

4 жыл бұрын

@@pk-pj4sz Not really. I can show you the ingredients label on the bag. Some brands do have a bunch of crap but not the earthgro brand.

@talileonard2553

4 жыл бұрын

Yes I’ve seen many others sift through soil before adding it to their tank and I agree with them it’s much better than not sifting.

I thought you HATED dirted tanks! XD

@ThePlantedTankTV

4 жыл бұрын

I still dont really like them compared to aquasoil. My newest scape used aquasoil if you want to check it out. Turned out great. Haha

@ezioaugustus2621

4 жыл бұрын

@@ThePlantedTankTV you should try dirt capped with aquasoil.

Potting soil always works better, oragnic, no perlite.

@ThePlantedTankTV

2 жыл бұрын

I 100% agree but in my area it's literally impossible to find. Trust me I've looked everywhere... Some areas of the u.s. literally just do not sell it...

What? You're gonna rescape this?

@ThePlantedTankTV

4 жыл бұрын

I'm going to give it a while first but yes. That's why I started using dirt so I can scape more tanks for you guys. Last year I only did one scape in each tank really and it doesn't give me much content to make videos on. Plus scaping videos always do pretty good. This helps me pay some of my Bill's so I really need the extra money haha.

You don't need dirt or soils. If your using Co2,no need for them. Better to tell people,use 3" of gravel and use a few more fish to feed the plants!. You have almost a zero load..so no need to change water. I wish people would understand...we are not terrestrial gardeners...we are hydroponics..and the gravel has no need to have dirt..it needs the right bacteria and nutrients. Aquatic plants do so much better by hydroponic methods than the old farm!

@ThePlantedTankTV

4 жыл бұрын

You do need some kind of nutrients though. I dont care what you or anyone else says plants do not thrive the same way in gravel as they do in dirt or aquasoil. Period that's just the way it is. It doesn't matter if you are using co2 or not. Plants still need a good amount of nutrients to grow. I've grown plants in gravel and sand alone several times and you'll never get the same results. If what you are saying were true there would never have been the need to use aquasoil and dirt or root tabs. Keeping a high fish load does help but it simply does not compare to having dirt and aquasoil... growing plants with out them is much more difficult unless you are using really low light. You must not have ever used dirt or aquasoil to see the massive difference it really makes.

@StanTheObserver-lo8rx

4 жыл бұрын

@@ThePlantedTankTV I've used soils..it gets depleted. It's not forever rich. Like any soils for a potted plant..it loses nutrients..at also becomes a mass of roots as the soil evaporates from bacteria digesting it into something inert. That's just basic soil science. Aquatic plants growing is not much different from hydroponics. Only,with aquatic foliar feeding is most of the absorption..

@ThePlantedTankTV

4 жыл бұрын

@@StanTheObserver-lo8rx You are wrong again. The soil starts to decompose after a certain point. It's not comparable to a potted plant in the aspect of it being under water and constantly decomposing. If you read Diana Walstads book in the substrate chapter she goes in depth about how it works. She's an actual scientist and I am sure she knows a lot more of how it works than both of us. Potted plants do lose nutrient because the soil does not decompose the same way it does as if it were to be continuously under water. Hydroponics is a completely different ball game. If it were really that easy don't you think aquascapers would be doing it? and or promoting doing it that way? They don't because it doesn't work that way. If you are so sure about how good your method is then you should make a channel and promote it your self...

@StanTheObserver-lo8rx

4 жыл бұрын

@@ThePlantedTankTV I'm sure. I've worked in Horticulture with scientists. When it comes to aquariums..there is more than one way to skin a cat,two answers can be equally true. I like making things that are complicated and making them simpler. Some people take simple things and make them as complicated as they can....