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RE: P.E.I. Soil in substrate
As others have noted, the poster who is using P.E.I. soil in his substrate
may just have to be patient - soil based tanks can take several months to
"find their feet" and settle down. P.E.I. is famous for it's potatoes and
it's red soil, but as Roger Miller pointed out, that red soil isn't
laterite.
I spent a few moments surfing the web looking for some agricultural web
sites which might shed some light on just what is in P.E.I. soil which makes
it so red, and discovered that the provincial government has a Soil and Feed
Testing Laboratory (http://www2.gov.pe.ca/af/soilfeed/index.asp). Giving
them a call might get some general information about the types of soils on
the Island. Give them $20.00 and a soil sample, and they will tell you
everything you need to know and then some. Their "Field Soil Package" cost
$20.00Cdn ($10.00 if you're a farmer) will test for the following: pH, OM
(organic matter), P2O5, K2O, Ca, Mg, Cu, Zn, Fe, Mn, S, B, Buffer Lime
Requirement, CEC, (%) Base Saturation. The web site has very clear
descriptions of what the various parameters cover and mean.
Anyone contemplating a soil based substrate would probably be well advised
to check their local agricultural department to find the nearest testing lab
and have a sample of their soil checked. Its only by having a sample tested
that you can know just what is in it. Granted that a lot of the information
you will get back, especially the recommendations for fertilizer application
rates, are going to be useless to you as they are geared to field crops, but
what you will learn will help you determine how to care for your aquatic
plants.
James Purchase
Toronto