# Journey to a natural planted tank



## Bettalovinmomma (May 28, 2014)

I’ve decided to embark on a journey to a soil based natural planted tank. I thought I’d start a journal to keep track of everything. Feel free to give any and all pointers. 

I’ve had tanks for years but always with either silk plants and gravel or gravel with watersprite, java fern and Anubias. 

Starting with: 

10 gallon tank
Miracle grow organic choice potting mix
Small river rock gravel for top coat
Spider wood
Petrified wood/rocks
Water sprite
3 Wisteria plants
3 Amazon swords
1 Ruffled Amazon sword
Micro sword
3 Petite Anubias
Moneywort
3 parts jungle val
Ludwigia 
Anacharis

I will also be getting christmas moss sometime this coming week that I will somehow being attaching to the spider wood. 

Obviously all the other necessary things too, test kits, heaters, thermometers. 

I have always used sponge filters in the past but am going to try a HOB filter with this tank. 

I’m starting out with just a day light fluorescent light but as soon as I can I’m going with a better light. Hoping I don’t sabotage my plants from the start without a better light. 

So anyone with recommendations for light, shoot them at me. Thanks! 

I start the tank tomorrow. I had a few plants delivered today and the rest are due tomorrow. 

I accidentally ordered Flourish excel instead of Flourish comprehensive but if the tank works the way it should, I’ve read that neither will be necessary. 

The tank will eventually hold my newer boy Blue, a half moon king. He is in a 3 gallon temporarily until I get his 10 gallon up and going. 

So anyone with pointers feel free to share. As I’m working on the tank tomorrow I will share pics of the progress. I have a feeling it’s going to be a long day but I’m excited to get it all started. 

Thanks for reading and following my journey! Hope it’s a successful one.


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## Rainbo (Nov 23, 2015)

You might want to pick a different soil. The miracle grow is loaded with both Perilite and pieces of wood, so if you really want to use it you need to sift through the soil and remove as much perilite and wood pieces as possible. If you do not you'll have the headache I had when I used that soil and that the perilite floating to the top and the wood decomposing in the soil forming unending gas pockets. 

It's better to use black sand as your top layer, otherwise the gravel will get pushed to the bottom as you poke the soil to release any gas bubbles, oh and if you do not want to poke the soil then your best bet is to invest in Malaysian Trumpet Snails (MTS) the sand will also make life easier on them. The other thing about gravel is that you'll need to scrape it out the way when you plant new plants or move established ones. Once again things I learned the hard way LOL.

Yeah, yeah, I went rogue doing my NPT, and quickly learned why Oldfishlady says to do the things she does in this sticky thread.. https://www.bettafish.com/147-planted-betta-tanks/114575-how-natural-planted-tank.html Famous last words, "it won't hurt to do it this way."


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## Bettalovinmomma (May 28, 2014)

Thanks for the input. That’s one of the links from OFL that I’ve been using. 

I did use the soil. I sifted it through a strainer and got the big chunks out. There was no perilite. I decided on the gravel also because I have tried to use sand before and it did not go well. I’ll just have to poke. I would like some snails though even if it’s just to have them. 

Pic of it so far is attached. I don’t have the spiderwood in there yet because it wasn’t fully waterlogged and still wanted to float. I put it in there and put the plants around it. It looks like a jumbled mess lol. I’m no good at aquascaping. My anubias are floating at the moment because I don’t have my spiderwood to attach them to. I’ll be getting some moss to put on it also. 

It’s cloudy at the moment which I’m hoping is normal. I’ve only done one water change and have another to do because I still have some dirt floating. I’m so worried my plants will melt and not survive. It wasn’t cheap to do. I’m no doubt going to have to move some things around.


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## Ethand (Sep 1, 2018)

I’m super keen to see how this goes long term! I’ve got 2 heavily planted 10-11g tanks, but only using gravel substrate. It’s going quite well & nearly all plants are flourishing, but I’d be interested to know what to/not to do with soil!
As for aquascaping, I’m no pro, but I’ve found that clumping 2-3+ of the same plant in a cluster & creating ‘zones’ tends to look best, particularly with the smaller plants like your grasses in the foreground.... (Sorry I don’t really know the names of any plants I don’t have myself! Haha)
Bigger plants like your swords work fine as a solo ‘feature’, but again, I’d avoid evenly spacing plants & would lean towards clustering anything you have multiple of into 1-3 clusters in the tank. I’m a huge fan of using driftwood in tanks, too, but I think it’s worth having a play around with different arrangements of the driftwood (once it sinks!) before you get too attached to the location of any plants. Try experimenting with the driftwood leaning on vertical diagonals in the tank too, to help give the tank some vertical interest. My Betta in the tank with the driftwood on a vertical diagonal spends most of his chill time in a little dimple on the highest end of the driftwood...
Also make sure you do keep some space empty/free for him to exercise! It can be tempting to overcrowd the tank... I think with your swords etc clustered you’ll be fine, but it’s worth keeping in mind 😉

Lighting-wise, I’ve got LED bars & cant recommend them enough! Energy efficient, bright, but not too bright... also pretty reasonably priced... I have one with the option of red/blue light as well as white, but tbh I never use it! Just white light is good, I think!

I’ll be following your adventures on here for sure! 😊😊


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## Bettalovinmomma (May 28, 2014)

Hi. Tonight I did some moving and pruning of the plants. I also put my spiderwood in the tank. It’s not quite water logged but I weighed it down. I finally got my water sprite today. Was supposed to have it Friday but post office delayed it. Fortunately it seems ok. I pulled out the wisteria, trimmed the stems and have them floating. I read that they could be floated until they get some roots. I also discovered that they are ones that had been grown out of water so it has a lot of transitioning to do. 

I filled it up and of course have the heater and filter on. I have to drain it low again and move it to it’s final location. No ammonia spikes so far. After I move it tomorrow, I will fill it, check numbers and leave it go for a day and then put Blue in it. Can’t wait for him to check out his new home. Just worried though cause I don’t want anything to happen to him.


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## Rainbo (Nov 23, 2015)

It's looking good!

The only advice I can give it to make sure you have the cap thick enough or the soil will work it's way up through it, when you poke the soil. I'll post some pictures so you can see what I mean.

First picture is when I set up the NPT, I used part sand and part gravel for the cap (it's what I had on hand) but didn't get it deep enough. Second picture is around 5 months later. From poking the soil a few times a week to release the gas, I had to poke it a few times a week because I didn't get enough would out the soil, the soil sand, and gravel got mixed and it was made worse by not having the cap thick enough. Last picture is the tank today, I eventually just got tired of the messy look and scrapped the NPT.


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## Bettalovinmomma (May 28, 2014)

Thanks.

I did add more gravel today. I still have some left if I need to add more. It’s probably more than an inch thick with gravel in most places. 

How long did you wait before you added a fish?


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## Rainbo (Nov 23, 2015)

I added him the same day. So long as you keep an eye on your parameters, are using Seachem Prime as your water conditioner, and your tank is heated, your betta will be safe. There's nothing in organic soil that should hurt him.


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## Bettalovinmomma (May 28, 2014)

Yes, I use prime. 

I didn’t get to do anything with it last night as my 2 yo was sick but I plan on emptying half he water to night and moving it to where it will be located. Then fill it up, check parameters and add him either tonight or tomorrow.


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## Bettalovinmomma (May 28, 2014)

Well I didn’t get to move the tank till yesterday but it’s finally done. Mr. Blue is finally in there. So far so good. He seems to like it. Lol. Tried eating some plants at first but realized they weren’t for eating. Plants seem to be ok except the anacharis. They are melting but also have some new growth so hopefully it’ll keep growing. Some pics of the tank and Blue. He is a half moon king.


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## Bettalovinmomma (May 28, 2014)

Man. That pic of the tank is blurry. Let’s try again.

The spiderwood still isn’t water logged. I did soak it for a couple of days but I’ve read it can take a month for it to become fully waterlogged. So it’s held down for now by a rock. 

Question on fertilizer for the water column. How much Flourish would I use for a 10 gallon with the amount of plants in there. The instructions say capful (5mL) for 60 gallons. But my tired brain can’t break that down at the moment. 

ETA: pic isn’t much better.


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## Rainbo (Nov 23, 2015)

Aww, Mr. Blue looks like he's enjoying his tank!

I dose Flourish at 2 drops per gallon, but double check that you need to use fertilizer in a NPT. If you have too many nutrients in the tank the plants won't be able to utilize them fast enough and you will get you an algae bloom that will be a pain to get rid of.


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