Interest in Mineralized Soil?

[anderson_p_r]

Howdy folks, long time. Spring is rolling in early it seems and I'm considering a real effort to mass produce my "secret recepie" mineralized soil, figured I'd check here to see if anyone would actually be interested in some of the stuff. I've talked with a few local fish stores about stocking / consigning it also. Not trying to start a discussion thread on the nuances of the process, just wondering if there happens to be any interest. I was thinking of selling as a dirt/sand cap kit by the sqft, thoughts what you'd feel would be a fair price / sqft? Kit would be enough material to cover 1 sqft in 1.5in (mineralized top soil) and 2+in sand and include inital suppliments for setup and first round of root tabs.

Thanks in advance for your responses!

Mods, please move if this is not the appropirate location.

 

[anderson_p_r]

Wow, not a single reply? What about you folks running the swap meet, think there could be any interest there? I'd likely not be able to attend any but what if a portion of the proceeds went to the club? LFS owners, any interest in stocking such an offering?

Thanks, Pat.

 

[Bob]

I tried soil for a bit, wasnt for me. It did work well and grew plants like crazy. But i like to change things up too much and it just got to be too messy.

 

[MattArmstrong]

When I tried dirt, I just used a bag of potting soil that happened to have "aged" outside for a year. That was in a 4 gallon tank -- actually still is, the tank is still running fine. But, based on the results, I won't be trying it in a larger tank. Plants grow but the tank is, well, generally dirty! I see the videos from "Dustin's Fish Tanks" and think, nah, if I want to go DIY on substrate in a large tank I'll use kitty litter or "Safe T Sorb" and some root tabs.

MTS is predominantly a DIY thing, so I wonder about the prospects of turning it into a product. Maybe if the particular blend of MTS came with a reputation of some sort...

 

[anderson_p_r]

I'm guess I'm just surprised. last year I felt like I had quite a few request to make batches. The idea would be to take it out of the DIY realm and make it a reliable repeatable system. No offense, but if your water is dirty, you've likely done something wrong in the process. I've uprooted half a tank with my dirt and it's crystal clear the next day.

That being said, I do have what I would call "proprietary" processing techniques that I learned from much research with soil scientist. My process also involves root tabs among other critical supplements, but lighting and CO2 and plant selection are just as important. My 10g at work as been without CO2 for nearly a year now thanks to my daughter, but still going strong.

A number of the people I talked with had living arrangements that didn't allow them space to DIY the soil correctly, or simply didn't have the time.

I've also just noticed that many of the FishBox users I was working with "back in the day" don't appear to be very active now. *shrug*

My 45g has been doing great:

 

[big01612]

I do the same thing. I change things up in my dirted tank Alot. My cap is fluorite/gravel mix. As I pull plants out I hold down the cap to prevent a big dirt dust cloud in the tank. The small dirt dust cloud that came out with roots settles down into cap. It's just how you do the rescape process, not the dirt it self.

 

[MattArmstrong]

No offense, but if your water is dirty, you've likely done something wrong in the process.

No offense taken. The water in my 4 gallon is clear, and the plants grow great. I do get some dirt when I pull a plant. It settles, but it doesn't ever go down below the cap (I'm using a fluorite cap taken from an old tank). So, I'm assuming, the longer this tank runs the more dirt I'll see on the substrate.

Also, I'm no person to judge a business idea. I thought both the iPhone and the iPad were doomed to fail when they first came out.

I suppose this would be a non issue if a carpet covers the whole tank. I didn't go dirt on my larger tank because I wanted to keep some areas open for some Corydoras.

 

[cooldude1606]

I think its a innovative idea. Hopefully you can have success with it. I have dirt in both a 10gal and a 55gal. both have crystal clear water and grow plants very well. I think more people should go with dirt after all whats at the bottom of almost every lake and slow moving river??

 

[Anonymous]

I think its a innovative idea. Hopefully you can have success with it. I have dirt in both a 10gal and a 55gal. both have crystal clear water and grow plants very well. I think more people should go with dirt after all whats at the bottom of almost every lake and slow moving river??

10,000 years of silt accumulation. Not miracle grow organic potting soil, lol. But that's besides the point