Walstad tank- perfectly capped soil rising

[Sprinkle]

I perfectly capped potting mix i used, i think so at least. I just put well a litre of dechlorinated water and little bits of that potting mix came out of substrate.
i gonna remove this with my turkey baster but should i b alarmed? Is it harmful to fish?

 

[dougall]

I would hardly call that perfect.

And why I never suggest a 'dirted' tank for a beginner .

Did you remove the additives to the soil? If not, assume fish will eat them, and unless you know their exact composition and can verify, remove them.

In fact do that with everything

You might be able to drain completely and remove with tweezers, but again... Not my bag.


I always, always, always suggest MTS for soil based substrate.

 

[Sprinkle]

i did remove large pieces, the grit and that seramis. The soil its self is no rising but little pieces, teeny tiny floating up. Do u think if i should remove them u til they stop rising would b best?
& i no thinks it is good idea to remove everyhting now. I wasted the potting mix, this all took me half a day to done perfectly.

Those r the pieces, u cans see how teeny tiny they are

 

[FreshyFresh]

Do you have a side / profile shot of the substrate? I'm thinking that gravel is just going to work itself to the bottom no matter what you do.

 

[Sprinkle]

Gravel is no moving toward bottom. It the soil teeny tiny pieces rising totally up.

This is how it look like, dont look at the lines as it is how i put everything together.
I looked on google and it say it something to do with soils buyoyancy thingie and it should sink but am afraid about my fishes well being.

and the gravel is 2-4mm so it a good size cap

 

[dougall]

Personally I would have used a cap size that had a smaller grain size to prevent this sort of thing,

At the end of the day, it's your tank, not mine, you may want to get advice from someone who said this was ok, and what to do to prevent issues, or rewatch the youtube videos again that indicated this was ok and see if you missed something or to ask for advice.

?

 

[Sprinkle]

So what can I do? Constant water changes? Or leave it b?

 

[Sprinkle]

I keep doing water changes to remove those bits, seems less of em now! i added my male guppy i read me self and he is unaffected. I think..

 

[FreshyFresh]

I'd wait till all the gravel settles to the bottom, then scoop all the dirt out.

I'm kidding! (mostly)

 

[dougall]

Putting fish in before getting answers from experienced aquarists would not even make my list if things to do.