Has Anyone Used Pond Soil & What are Your Opinions?

[Iliveinazoo]

I'm going to set up a small 40l for pond snails and want to use native British plants. The tank is sand only at the moment as it used to be home to a Fiddler Crab but I wanted to put a layer of substrate underneath the sand.

Has anyone used pond compost such as 'Blagdons'? If so is it any good or should I go out and buy a decent aquarium substrate?

 

[Crypt]

Hi,
I have used pond soil many times on Diana Walstad style set ups, it works just fine for me. The only thing I would say, is that for the long term fine gravel seems to work best on this kind of set up.

Nice to see someone else growing British natives in aquaria, its a shame they are always so overlooked.

 

[Iliveinazoo]

Thanks Crypt,
I've been trying to find out the details of the fertilisers in pond soil but haven't mangaed it so far. Did the tank get messy when you moved things about in your tank or did the soil stay were it was?

 

[Crypt]

I've never really had a problem, but again, I do think using fine 3-4mm gravel rather than sand helps. It simply allows the fine particles so settle back into the substrate, rather than sit on top and look a mess. I usually use the nice rounded fine Dorset Pea gravel for my natural tanks.

What natives do you have in mind?

 

[Iliveinazoo]

I'm not sure what the species will be yet, I'm looking at a few species like arrowheads and grasses. A bullrush would be nice but probably a little too big for my system...