Re: [APD] Soil in Tanks

["bill" <billpers at comcast_net>]

William T. Innes, the original guru of aquarium keeping, wrote in the 1947
edition of the classic "Exotic Aquarium Fish", wrote that soil in planted
aquariums "does not work out well."  He felt that the plants in an aquarium
would remove the waste material that the fish produced, in a "balanced"
aquarium.  We know differently today.

He also said that fertilizing roots was more dangerous than using a soil
underlayer.  He noted that he had seen ". . . many well planted aquariums
degenerate without the presence of fish life, only to revive beautifully
with the reintroduction of fishes."

Innes was state-of-the-art for his day.  It is amazing that much of what he
advocated is still good aquarium husbandry 60 or 70 years later.

Later editions of that book are readily available at a low price at
Amazon.com and other places.  If they are like the 1947 edition, they are
classics.

Bill


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