Reed Sedge Peat

[Mr.Shenanagins]

In the US this product is sold through HD as an aquatic soil for pond lillies etc. It’s composed of the sedge and sand, im assuming to provide grit and weight. From what I’ve learned, reed sedge is basically composted water weeds and is rich in humic acids and contains decent nitrogen content. I planned on using it for my rescape but was wondering if I need to mix this with some soil or some osmocote underneath would be just fine.

 

[zozo]

I'm not familiar with this specific product, but in Europe, similar pond soils are available mainly what is used for lilies contains Peat, Sand, and Blue Clay, lilies prefer soft muddy soils and actually all plants like it since it's soft the plants can root fast with little effort.

In 2017 i did build a small outdoor aquarium I gave a base layer of this peaty clay soil capped with sand and a top layer of gravel. And it still is up and running today. It grew plants like a champion each year over again and never added extra fertilizer.

2017

2018

2020

I see no reason why it shouldn't be any good for a planted indoor tank... And I wouldn't worry too much about fertilization. Organic soils are pretty self-sustaining for a long time and fertilizer can easily be added to the water column if necessary.

A few threads with valuable info you might like to read about using dirt soils in planted tanks.

Darrell's (dw1305's) soil thread

Hi all That's interesting :) It's literally soil dug up, burnt and sieved. is 100% correct. I've got quite a lot of soil samples, out of the furnace in the lab (this burns out the OM at 500 oC to give you the percentage organic for your soil) if any-one wants to experiment with them? The...

www.ukaps.org

Soil Substrate or Dirted Tank - A How to Guide

The Soil Substrate Planted Tank - a How to Guide... ...or Zen and an Introduction to the Art of Underwater Gardening with Soil or Dirt... ...or The Hybrid-Energy Approach. Introduction In writing this I hope to illustrate that using soil substrate offers a range of possibilities and that it's...

www.ukaps.org

 

[Mr.Shenanagins]

@zozo
Thank for the reply! Yes I am familiar with Tim’s tutorial and have done soil before, just nothing overwhelmingly successful. My current tank has a soil layer underneath my aquasoil. It’s a bit of a jumbled mess under there but it worked.

I’m planning to incorporate this with some mineralized soil I already have for a rescape, and capping with blasting sand. Thanks for the tips!