What is your opinion on vallisneria and anacharis? I'm trying to eliminate water changes as much as possible in my 3 tanks and nitrates are my only concern as I tend to overfeed to make sure loaches, corys and dwarf frogs don't go hungry.
Anacharis should be fine, used to use it in ponds back in the day and it did a great job. I'm new to vallisneria, literally got some this week so no real experience with it but I have seen other people report good things.
Valls will grow very well ! For me both the giant ones & normal ones grow very fast giving off runners everywhere around the tank , but the ‘vals twister’ variety that i planted melted away…
Hey, I have a planted tank using soil capped with about an inch and half of sand. all my stem plants end up having rotting roots. not sure if you have any suggestions. Also love the channel!
Cheers mate, it could be due to issues with the top soil layer being anaerobic. You can try poking something thin like a sewing needle into the substrate to get air into it. Another potential issue is the type of soil used. I use regular top soil but a friend of mine used potting soil in his shrimp jar and had a bunch of issues from the start. He rebuild it with top soil and hasn't had any issues since.
How deep are you planting them? They should only be within the sand. Otherwise if it's deep in the soil the roots can suffer from an over abundance of nutrients.
Just wondering, whats the difference between Fluval Stratum, or ADA aquatic soil and "dirt"? My first thought is the amount of nutrients. I hear so many terms. for substrste.
I'm not 100% sure if i'm honest mate. I think Fluval Stratum is a cheap aquasoil that is mainly used to buffer pH levels in tanks to safely lower the pH for fish and certain types of caridina shrimp. This only lasts around 6 months though so after that it acts like a normal soil. Its still perfectly fine for planted tanks and its what I use in some of mine as fish poop provides nutrients to the plants anyway. Never used ADA Amazonia but to my knowledge its a really expensive aquasoil, at least here and its presoaked to contain more nutrients but can cause problems during the cycle due to the amount of nutrients in the tank. Regular dirt can be broken down into different categories too as some have higher minerals due to the harvesting area, some have stuff artificially added to increase nutrients and stuff but its generally the cheapest. It has the highest nutrient content though so usually needs a capping layer for safe use in an aquarium without ammonia spikes.
I'm no expert, but I have experience with "Walstad" tanks and high tech tanks using aqua soil. My experience: While they seem similar on the surface (both are substrates that provide nutrients) they're fundamentally different in composition. The "aqua soils" are generally made of some sort of volcanic rock or clay that has been enriched with available nutrients that slowly release over time. The particles are more uniform in shape and the "soil" doesn't "decompose", though it may fall apart over time. Potting "soil" (what Walstad recommends in her book) is made of organic material (and additives like perlite or vermiculite for drainage in pots) that slowly *decomposes* over time. This process is more long term, but is also a bit more messy. This is why we usually "cap" these soils with sand or gravel.
Yea, its a shame, it made up a third of the stem plants though so it starting to melt dropped the total natural filtration ability of the tank while also dumping a lot of excess nutrients into the tank at the same time as it decayed. Its all a learning process though, getting ready to set two new tanks up though, just waiting for the hardscape to be delivered :)
Anubias & java ferns give me the finger & limp along, protesting the entire way, until they finally settle in after a couple months. Crypts are also fussy, for me, starting out until they explode with growth & I think only a nuke can destroy them. Buce is a nice, dutiful, little plant that chugs along & then explodes with growth after 3 months & is also indestructible. Everything else is a mixed bag. I mostly let them do what they're going to do & I trim them when they get to the top of the tank.
Amazing! Thank you from brazil!
Cheers mate, glad its helpful :)
Thanks for the informative video! Keep it up!
Cheers mate, glad its helping :)
Like #100 says great video! Just set mine up this week a d plant shopping as we speak. Thanks for the info 👍
Glad its helping mate, thanks for the like :)
Nice video! Glad to see my favorite floating plant in the list hehe :)
Cheers mate :) I love Salvinia, have it in all my tanks :)
What is your opinion on vallisneria and anacharis? I'm trying to eliminate water changes as much as possible in my 3 tanks and nitrates are my only concern as I tend to overfeed to make sure loaches, corys and dwarf frogs don't go hungry.
Anacharis should be fine, used to use it in ponds back in the day and it did a great job.
I'm new to vallisneria, literally got some this week so no real experience with it but I have seen other people report good things.
Valls will grow very well ! For me both the giant ones & normal ones grow very fast giving off runners everywhere around the tank , but the ‘vals twister’ variety that i planted melted away…
Anacharis will literally grow anywhere lol
Hey, I have a planted tank using soil capped with about an inch and half of sand. all my stem plants end up having rotting roots. not sure if you have any suggestions. Also love the channel!
Cheers mate, it could be due to issues with the top soil layer being anaerobic. You can try poking something thin like a sewing needle into the substrate to get air into it.
Another potential issue is the type of soil used. I use regular top soil but a friend of mine used potting soil in his shrimp jar and had a bunch of issues from the start. He rebuild it with top soil and hasn't had any issues since.
How deep are you planting them? They should only be within the sand. Otherwise if it's deep in the soil the roots can suffer from an over abundance of nutrients.
Just wondering, whats the difference between Fluval Stratum, or ADA aquatic soil and "dirt"? My first thought is the amount of nutrients. I hear so many terms. for substrste.
I'm not 100% sure if i'm honest mate.
I think Fluval Stratum is a cheap aquasoil that is mainly used to buffer pH levels in tanks to safely lower the pH for fish and certain types of caridina shrimp. This only lasts around 6 months though so after that it acts like a normal soil. Its still perfectly fine for planted tanks and its what I use in some of mine as fish poop provides nutrients to the plants anyway.
Never used ADA Amazonia but to my knowledge its a really expensive aquasoil, at least here and its presoaked to contain more nutrients but can cause problems during the cycle due to the amount of nutrients in the tank.
Regular dirt can be broken down into different categories too as some have higher minerals due to the harvesting area, some have stuff artificially added to increase nutrients and stuff but its generally the cheapest. It has the highest nutrient content though so usually needs a capping layer for safe use in an aquarium without ammonia spikes.
I'm no expert, but I have experience with "Walstad" tanks and high tech tanks using aqua soil. My experience:
While they seem similar on the surface (both are substrates that provide nutrients) they're fundamentally different in composition. The "aqua soils" are generally made of some sort of volcanic rock or clay that has been enriched with available nutrients that slowly release over time. The particles are more uniform in shape and the "soil" doesn't "decompose", though it may fall apart over time. Potting "soil" (what Walstad recommends in her book) is made of organic material (and additives like perlite or vermiculite for drainage in pots) that slowly *decomposes* over time. This process is more long term, but is also a bit more messy. This is why we usually "cap" these soils with sand or gravel.
Where do you get the plant rings?
Etsy :)
Oh, this is when the Ludwigia started to melt in this tank. It’s a pity that that one plant collapsed the entire tank.
Yea, its a shame, it made up a third of the stem plants though so it starting to melt dropped the total natural filtration ability of the tank while also dumping a lot of excess nutrients into the tank at the same time as it decayed.
Its all a learning process though, getting ready to set two new tanks up though, just waiting for the hardscape to be delivered :)
I can hardly wait.
Anubias & java ferns give me the finger & limp along, protesting the entire way, until they finally settle in after a couple months.
Crypts are also fussy, for me, starting out until they explode with growth & I think only a nuke can destroy them.
Buce is a nice, dutiful, little plant that chugs along & then explodes with growth after 3 months & is also indestructible.
Everything else is a mixed bag. I mostly let them do what they're going to do & I trim them when they get to the top of the tank.
Great points, thanks for the input :)