Dirt substrate and other altwrnatives india.. help needed..

[nanomania]

Hey guys, im from mumbai, planning on dirt tank method for the first time but confused coz most of the brands are not available in india.... im planning on organic potting soil mix with rexolin and gravel or "Akadama" (clay ball soil used for bonsai).. I have seen peoe abroad use "Osmocote" for slow release ferts for roots, is something like that available here? Im planning to grow HC, DHG, Glosso and maybe Dwarf sag.

This is gona be my 28x15x15" tank for testing this method, then planning to upgrade to 150g monster with all sorts of plants...

[SCORPIO]

Dont worry about finding substrate for a natural scape. Use locally available resources.

You can easily find Black soil in surrounding of Mumbai. Dig around one feet and collect the clean soil as substrate in your scape. Once I used black soil collected from Nashik and result was amazing.

Visit any nursery and ask them for "Soilrite". Mix it with black soil in ratio of 40:60. Top this mixture with fine gravels. You will be easily grow most of the aquatic plants.

[nanomania]

Thanks for the reply scorpio... here is what I have come across...
http://www.ankurnursery.com/product-det ... nditioners

[nanomania]

Black soil, I dont know where to collect from, as I live in south mumbai a proper city....

[Arjun Tandon]

Thanks for the reply scorpio... here is what I have come across...
http://www.ankurnursery.com/product-det ... nditioners

No Ankur this may not be the substrate you should be looking for.
Aquatic plants need a substrate with a nice Cation Exchange Capacity(google about CEC). So a substrate needs to be denser than what we use for terrestrial plants but should be penetrable for the roots at the same time. The soil showed in the link has a nice, airy and humus rich texture. When this put as a substrate, it will come up floating and tint the water over time. Also, anything organic will end up rotting and producing ammonia in the tank.

You can use the black soil Rajivji is talking about because it is rich in clay and minerals. There is plenty of construction always going around for underground pipes, flyovers and other things that involve digging here in NCR. So look around. Also, google mineralized compost.
I would suggest going for easier plants that do not require CO2 or ferts or a rich substrate if you are short of resources. Make you decision wisely

[nanomania]

Well but I love runners the most so want a runner only tank... blacksoil ill try to find.. I read that cocopeat has good cec....wonts add ankur so in my other post iv mentioned what exactly ill go for...

[Arjun Tandon]

I've had good results with mineralized vermicompost and cocopeat capped with gravel. But it did used to turn the water slightly brown maybe from the tannins from cocopeat. So, keep the cocopeat less and more dirt. As Romi said, should work for 6 months

[nanomania]

Iv seen dirt tanks without using ferts for 10yrs, if u see dustins dirt tanks, how do they do it? All they add is co2 and no ferts, they say the fertz come from fish poop so jis keep bioload a bit high... what donthey add in the dirt part?

[mats]

Osmocote is available in India. I think it is an Israeli product but am not sure.
Very few nurserymen use it as it is expensive and most people still don't understand the concept.
It is generally used for pot plants that are bigger than the pots could hold comfortably, like trees and big shrubs planted in pots. Normally a plastic mesh plug with a pointed tip (like a golf tee) is used to hold it in the soil rather than just throwing it in the soil.
Try to search a bit for in Mumbai or Pune and if you cannot find let me know and will arrange it for you.
Regards

[nanomania]

Ok mats... I did try in mumbai, no1 even knows what that is... if u can arrange then wud be best... let me know wbat wud it cost... I saw online, the shipping charges are way too high.