Sean's Soil Substrate Recipe Documented

[Aaron]

Dude you are so far over my head. Was that a no, don't bake it?

This tank will start its life emersed, if that matters, at least 6-8 weeks of being an emersed growth tank.

I think that was a no. If I'm reading Sean's statement correctly the baking would bake off the good bacteria you want to establish.

[RTRJR]

My own interpretation of Sean's work, so he can correct as needed - the bacteria are the workers who do the job, so baking would be killing them and potentially making the organics in the soil different (denatured) and possibly even harder to digest, thus not the best idea. The stirring and drying helps keep the oxygen levels up (aerobes are faster than anaerobes), so the standard process is as fast as it gets without some specialized technology not likely to be around the house (hyperbaric chamber or at least a shaker table).

If you are a gardener, this is comparable to composting, just on a solely micro scale. Composting can be fast or slow, but it is always the microbes which do the work. Anything which knocks them down slows the process.

[ingg]

Through my first round if drying.

So, this was like supposed to have all of these bubbles in a scum film when it went back into water, right? I hope?

[Aaron]

Yup, it should smell still when wet too.

[dSerk]

Have you guys been using untreated tapwater during the wet/dry cycles? Wouldn't the chlorine/chloramine inhibit the biological processes, or does untreated tapwater not affect the desirable bacteria? Wouldn't there be a benefit from using tankwater?

Has anyone tried our local dirt using this method? Local soil has a lot of clay already I thought... I suppose there's some danger in not really knowing what's in the dirt you dig outta your backyard....

Sean, how did you come to the number of cycles? Is there no benefit to extra cycling? If the weather is particularly hot, dry, and sunny, should you run a few more cycles just to give the process more time (I'm assuming there's less mineralization if your stuff dries out faster)?

Has anyone tried Chesapeake Bluecrab Shells as a source of potassium? An organic gardener friend tells me the Bay's crabshells are world renowned for their K content. Or maybe it was Ca.... need to ask him again.... I think he was comparing them to eggshells.

Sorry for the 15 month bump. This thread answered a couple questions, but I had to search for it

[SCMurphy]

I don't have chloramines in my tap and chlorine disapates pretty quickly from my tap water. Use tank water if you like, add tank mulm if you like, it doesn't matter in the end.

Here is something I found, someone sells this stuff as a fertilizer.
=====
Crab Shell 2-2.5-1

Crab Shell is high in chitin, which promotes the growth of chitin eating bacteri and when added to the soil Crab Shell helps to create a hostile environment for fungus and nematodes.

Directions: Garden: 3 lbs per sq. ft.
Row: 1-2 lbs per 100 linear ft.
Compost: 3-6 oz per cubic foot.
Bulbs: 1 tablespoon mixed into soil under bulb.
Potting Mixes: 2% of total volume by weight.

Ingredients: Fresh dried crab shell.

Guaranteed Analysis: Total Nitrogen(N).........................2.5%
Availible Phosphate(P2O5)...........3.0%
Soluble Potash(K2O)...................0.5%
Calcium(Ca)..............................23.0%

Crab Shell is not a fungicide or nematocide.
=====

You are better off with dolomite.

There is no magic number with the cycles. You do them until the soil can be wet for a day and not smell like something rotting.

If you use local soil, you don't know how much of the soil is soil and how much is clay. The soil is where the majority of the nutrients are.

[DelawareJim]

Has anyone tried our local dirt using this method? Local soil has a lot of clay already I thought... I suppose there's some danger in not really knowing what's in the dirt you dig outta your backyard....

That's all I do. Just scrape off the topsoil, dig the amount of subsoil you think you'll need and rinse it a couple of times to flush/float out any organic matter and reduce any tannins and add about an inch to the tank. Whole process can be done in a couple of hours. Works best it you can find a construction site where all the topsoil's been stripped off and sold.

Cheers.
Jim

[jcali10]

Jim wrote:

That's all I do. Just scrape off the topsoil, dig the amount of subsoil you think you'll need and rinse it a couple of times to flush/float out any organic matter and reduce any tannins and add about an inch to the tank. Whole process can be done in a couple of hours.

So you don't do the drying process?

[DelawareJim]

Nope.

Once no pieces of roots, leaves, grass, etc. are floating to the top when I stir it, and the water is clear, it goes in the tank.

I use 2 5-gallon glazing compound buckets. One to haul the dug soil and one as the soil rinse bucket. Fill the rinse bucket about 1/5 to 1/4 full of soil. Fill with water and swirl the soil around. Pour off the water. Repeat until water is clear. Dump soil in tank. Take another batch of soil, repeat above steps, etc., etc.

If you have a higher clay content, you may want to wait a couple of minutes after swirling to allow it to settle a bit. The soil will settle into 3 layers; the sand fraction on the bottom which has the largest heaviest particles, the silt fraction which is intermediate in size and weight, and the clay fraction on top which is the smallest and lightest particle.

Cheers.
Jim

[krisw]

I'd guess your substrate bubbles CO2 when disturbed? Ever any algae issues initially? (Not to say you don't have them with the mineralized soil either.) I believe Diana Walstad's method using topsoil without mineralizing too.