Me too it's so much cheaper and a nice challenge as well. I was surprised by this easy growth. I had more trouble with hair grass. It got brown tips after a few months. I guess monte Carlo feeding from the water column makes a big difference
Great tank mate! Have a few questions, I'm using a dry start method myself, with aquasoil and Monte Carlo seeds and germinating them, it's already about half an inch thick, im going to flood the tank soon, 1-Will it survive with decent light? 2-Is it ok not to use co2 or any fertilizer?(Since it's a walstad tank? 3-What other plants should I use to get along with them? 4-Last but not least; why should I trim and when to trim the monte Carlo? Will it survive if I won't trim it(since there's mo trimming in nature lol)? I'm trying to imitate a natural ecosystem and I'm not willing to change anything so often. I want the nature to find it's path. Thanks for answers.
I've got some bad news for you sadly. Carpet seeds are a scam. It's not real monte carlo. Monte Carlo doesn't grow from seed. Once you fill the tank with water it will completely die off and wipe out everything in about 4 weeks. In rare cases it may be Hygrophila polysperma which is actually a tall growing stem plant. You'll have to start from scratch 😥
@@IndoorEcosystem ah... That sounds bad:( It seems imma look what's going in a few weeks and gonna add different plants, maybe some dwarf hairgrass, idk... Thanks for info mate... Nevertheless, I will update you, I hope it doesn't die off:(
@@VodkaRedbullTonic Honestly I wouldn't risk any more money on plants in that tank. Just rip it all up and start clean. It's not worth the chaos once it starts to melt. The ammonia spike that goes along with it will burn everything else in the tank. You can actually carpet monte carlo really easily using a dry start method but with pots: ruclips.net/video/sVsAOBIyCwo/видео.htmlsi=hWNpxwLmVLFAS5gS I used the method in this video and it works really well and doesn't cost much at all. I've seen a lot of peoples carpet seed horror stories over on reddit over the years.
@@IndoorEcosystem no you got it wrong, The tank isn't flooded. There is no plants other than germinated seeds, so it's nothing to rip apart, just soil, some sands and rocks.
Heard you say something about brown on your longer grass. I have the same problems but on most of my plants. They grow just end up turning brown. I add fert once a week and have a pretty decent light. Not sure what it is. Thinking iron or potassium
I've just started dosing potassium nitrogen and phosphate (no iron) so well see what happens. If nothing comes of it it will be iron I guess the light is plenty strong.
I just bought this plant for the first time. Have a new nano paludarium with Seachem fluorite substrate capped with a layer of sand on top. For lighting, I’m just using a lamp with a special plant-growing light bulb from Home Depot. Not sure how well this will carpet/live but I’ll see.
Will be an interesting little experiment. Just make sure you don't have any critters in there that will disturb it early on. Some things will dig it up before it gets roots. Which is a nightmare.
I have gravel as my substrate. I regret not getting something else but I was told 101 different things when starting out. I do have a ton of mulm so I think that helps. But my plants are so well rooted now I'm hesitant to change. I want to switch to sand to start to see the natural behaviors a lot of fish exhibit in sand. But then I also want something with nutrients like stratum or something. I think I will wait until I move to worry about changing my substrate
Looks great! I've got Monte Carlo in my low-tech tank as well. When the pot arrived via mail it looked a little worse for wear so I didn't break it up and plant it separately. It seems to be doing fine now. Would breaking it up at this point and replanting it be an issue?
Thanks :) It should be fine to break up. Just go nice and slow when you are splitting it up the more roots and stuff you keep intact the faster it will take off again. It's a surprisingly quick growing plant that grows from the smallest bit. When you trim it every single trimming can and will grow roots and spread. They are just hard to get to stay in the substrate when they are small so I usually plant pretty deep.
I collect all the trimmings and spread them out on a piece of felt. Then I put into a plastic container with a lid and fill gently with water until felt is wet. Put a lid on it and the roots will start to grow into the felt. After a week or two, Then you can take the piece and plant the felt piece, or cut it up into smaller pieces & plant. Otherwise they just float everywhere. I do this with moss too and other tiny plant trimmings. 🇦🇺❤️
This is exactly what I was looking for, growing plants without co2. Planning on setting up a low tech tank but curious on how it will grow without co2. Thanks!
I've had a lot of success with monte Carlo and low Tech. I have a more recent video showing off another tank with an awesome carpet. The Thumbnail has Game Over on it. As long as your tank isn't too deep and your light reaches well you can grow a good assortment of plants without problems. There are still a few that just won't grow without C02 though. UG, HCuba and a couple of rarer red plants.
I get the same thing sometimes. I usually just trim the top off and replant whatever is left. It seems to keep it from growing up and forces it to go sideways.
How deep is your sand cap? If it's not too deep it'll be fine. But the roots might not make it into the soil easily otherwise. As for other carpetinf plants most others need CO2 unless you want to try a pearl weed carpet.
@@IndoorEcosystem I’ve removed the sand and topped up with aqua soil Took ages but it was about 1.5cm deep sand. Was considering trying a moss carpet and maybe a homemade co2 contraption. Thanks for the reply
@@SCHOFIELD81 moss carpets are cool but you don't need any soil for them. You could just use sand it would have been a lot cheaper. Moss doesn't need many nutrients. Nothing is as bright green like Monte Carlo though. It just stands out and looks amazing. If you've got the time for DIY co2 it's always a nice boost! It's not required but will make things faster.
@@SCHOFIELD81 with a good light you're set. If the Monte Carlo is already growing in water it's even better! The stuff grown out of water melts quite bad sometimes. But does come back eventually
This is great to see. I have a little 2.5 gal shrimp bowl that I have had going for a year now, no filter and no heater, and the rotala indica has completely taken it over. So I just ripped out a bunch along the front and sides, leaving it more towards the back and center and am looking for a plant that I can grow towards the front. This looks like exactly what I want, and from your video it looks like I should be able to do it.
It's super easy! I done a bowl with it as well. Works perfectly. I've found the only thing that can slow it down is depth. The deeper the water the stronger the light. But for anything around 30cms any light seems to work well.
@@IndoorEcosystem awesome. Thank you for the advice. I’m pretty excited to try this out. This bowl is amazing and I hope this will just make it that much better.
Hi, did your monte carlo melt when you first filled the tank? I’m dry starting my Monte carlo for my mini cube tank and not planning to have co2. Been 1.5mths already. Carpet growing pretty well Want to start flooding the tank and let the water cycle, so I can have my shrimps in. Am afraid that plant will die after filling it up with water and effort will be wasted. Any advice? Thank you!
Not this batch. This one went perfect. Normally though I get a little melt but with dry start melt is reduced dramatically. I've done 3 dry starts using the same method without CO2 and they worked very well. The longer you wait the better though. At least 8 weeks is my preferred time frame.
A good sized hang on back filter would be best hanging from the middle. Otherwise I'd put to sponges in. One on each side. Shrimp have a tiny bioload so you wouldn't really need crazy amounts of filtration with plants.
Hello, I have tried numerius times to grow Monte Carlo but to no avail. My Corys shove their faces underneath it and they outroot it. Second time I tried to plant the whole bit still attached to its cotton but again, Corys outrooted them. Now I am trying to make it grow by attaching it at the rocks and wood.
Cheers for the comment :) but I'm going to throw you a curve ball. My water is above 8 PH and has crazy high gh and kh with a base TDS of 300 out of the tap. Even with a buffering aquasoil the balance is swung heavy hard. You just need good light and good soil to get it grown in then it's self sustaining with nutrients from stocked critters. The biggest thing is trimming it before it gets too thick and the under layer dies. I have to use RO or demineralised water every so often to get the gh and kh down along with my TDS. I've had it creep up to 600 before.
I am the same. Monte Carlo in ADA Amazonia, pH8 hard water, no CO2 , no liquid ferts, no root tabs, no soil, just sunlight 2 hours a day. Easiest plant I have. Java moss I cannot keep alive. seriously 😢. I would recommend a beginner start with just this plant and ADA aquasoil. An instant garden. EDIT: I forgot. pretty sure I have ADA Amazonia + potting mix in the tank. not just aquasoil.
Just don’t use tap water. My tap water isn’t hard but I still never use it. It’s always best to buy a good quality spring water. My tanks aren’t that large so it’s affordable but I always have room temperature spring water on hand for water changes.
I don't know if this is true or not but I've been told that once you have introduced CO² into the planted aquarium for a prolonged period of time, that shutting off or reducing the amount of the gas to the point where it's next to non existent, could damage the plants. Perhaps CO² IS a hoax... Your almost enough proof that it is.
Sometimes a bad batch will melt. But I've found it to be one of the easiest plants to grow. As along as you have good light and nutrients it goes well.
Nothing at all. I haven't added anything since it set it up 6 months ago. But I probably need to to keep the small patch of hair grass going. But I think I'll just pull it up and let the monte Carlo fill that space as well.
I just done 20% a week for the first month. No stocking of animals until it's established so water changes aren't really required unless you want to keep any algae issues to a minimum.
7 months in and I just started phosphate potassium and nitrogen. Weekly. But that's only to get in top of some hair algae that started in my moss. The nutrients from the aquasoil fish waste should sustain it for ages. I'm still waiting to see how long it wiłl go for. But I suspect there won't be any issues at all.
3 the first week 40% 2 the second week 30% 1 30% a week after that That was for the specific tank but I've also had similar success with just 40% once a week it depends on the batch or Monte Carlo you get I've found. Some is better than others.
Hey, I was getting a 1.2m x 50cm x 50cm tank coming soon and wanted to do an Iwagumi scape. I bought a Fluval 3 light out of fear of monte carlo growing upwards, but is the light too powerful for a no co2 tank? Do you reckon I'd be able to get a carpet without co2 for such a big tank? Thank you!
I've never tried one that big but it's worked in a fish bowl, this 5 gal and my 10 gal so I don't see why it wouldn't scale up to a bigger tank. Light and Soil are the 2 biggest factors. If your Monte Carlo starts growing up you just trim and and it promotes sideways growth. For a tank that big though I would do a dry start to get it going. The amount of random floaters you'd get would be insanely annoying to replant. So I'd let it all take hold in dry start first. Your build sounds like it's going to be pretty damn epic in a tank that big with that gear!
@@IndoorEcosystem whoops realised my browser logged into an old gmail account I never checked haha don't mind the switch I'll definitely look into a dry start. I heard people wean CO2 consumption of plants - would suddenly having near infinite access to CO2 to suddenly being CO2 starved cause major melts?
@@chrishuynh_0043 I recently dry started my glass Iwagumi scape and it didn't melt back at all. I dry started with trimmings from another tank as well. So they went from being underwater to dry start then underwater a month later. Monte Carlo is way tougher than people give it credit for. I have had some bad luck with suppliers stuff though. Melted right back to nothing. But that was just bad quality or the cold got to it perhaps (shipped in winter) Whenever i trim Mine these days I scoop it all out and put it in trays of aquasoil and try start little trays so it's ready to go for new builds. Saves buying it all the time.
@Indoor Ecosystem how long do you think I should wait for when I flood the tank and cycle it with ammonium chloride before I add say, 30 cherry shrimp and 10 Medakas
@@chrishuynh_0043 I'd wait at least a month you will start to see roots going into the soil around the glass edges. The longer the better though 6-8 weeks is probably the best. You'll know by looking at the growth and spread though. I like to take a before shot to compare to. Cause looking at it every day it doesn't look like it's grown 😂
Hi, I have a 20 gallon that is about 60×45×30. I have some tropica aquasoil in it. I got a box of emersed monte carlo. I split it up into smaller patches and used my fingers to stick them into the soil. It looks beautiful but has not spreaded yet. I dont know what i can do to make it grow faster. Any suggestions? I got a fluval c3 on it and about 20 neon tetras and 5 cherry shrimp.
@@Anonymous-gh3wc You'll need at least 2 weeks for it to start taking root. Once it takes hold it will move reasonably fast. I suggest taking a picture every 5 days just so you can see how fast it goes. It may melt back a little as well sometimes but that's kinda random.
I've never tried it. I'd be guessing it's less effective as the nutrient distribution isn't evenly spread across 100% of the carpeting area it would be spread out in patches. Which means your carpet would be patchy for a long time as it tries to find nutrients. The ferts would help a bit though. It's probably a good experiment to try actually.
@@IndoorEcosystem Thanks for letting me know! On a bit of a budget so it’s hard to get nutrient rich substrate, and I’ve heard of people using Fluval stratum successfully. Perhaps it will be something interesting to try 🤔
@@BugTheSandWorm check out some of the pond soil capped methods it seems to be a good alternative. I believe MD Fish Tanks and Mj Aquascaping have some videos on it concept. It seems to work well for plants.
@@IndoorEcosystem it literally says fluval stratum is for plants and shrimps, so distribution would be 100%, plants in my 60L tank were growing like crazy on it with no ferts or co2
the lamp actually looks really nice for how cheap it is lol. but it confuses me. it seems to be a german brand and the packaging is on german too, yet i cant buy it anywhere around here and it only sells on poland and such
It's the best quality lamp I have seen for the price I have 15 of them in different sizes and they all still work after a few years heavy use. I figured they were all over Europe after seeing they were German branded and flagged. That really is odd.
@@IndoorEcosystem its just insane how overpriced ''aquarium lamps'' are. atm i use 2x10w sansi bulbs i had leftover from houseplants. i cant get my head around people paying like 100-200$ for a simple led strip. i mean do you even know how dirtcheap led diodes are? you can buy yourself some led strip-panel with quality samsung diodes for like 10 bucks or so and build your own lamp.
@@MaybeTiberius I have been using the cheapest lights going for a long time and they are fantastic! But I also recently upgraded to some higher end lights and there really is a difference. But it's primarily features of convenience. The options for dimming and ramp up and ramp down times and app control are super handy. But like you said not exactly required at all. But now that I have 13 or so tanks it's brilliant to have most on the same system without a huge pile of timers hanging out of sockets!
@@IndoorEcosystem something i always read as complains on cheap lights is something that its not waterproof, but even that to me is kind of irellevant tbh. i am too oldschool and to cautious to trust any waterproofing to begin with and i would never put a light close to a water surface without seperation so i always put some plexiglas or similar on top below the lightsource so it cant drop into the water or get water condensation to it.
@@MaybeTiberius I'm with you on that! I've never had a light need to be waterproof! Even if they are I would try my absolute best to avoid it getting wet anyway! 😁
@@juangonzales2987 Pretty much anywhere that sells aquarium plants should have it. It's one of the most popular plants around. You might spot it around named "Micranthemum tweediei" as well.
It wouldn't be as effective as aquasoil gives you 100% coverage. So the Monte Carlo can go anywhere and get good nutrients. Root tabs are a bit more patchy.
Had a tiny bristlenose until he got to about an inch. Then he went into my 20gal long. I needed the stone polished up. He sure didn't disappoint. I exchange them with my LFS semi regularly based on size. I give the bigger ones back and get a new baby one.
Thanks for watching!
Stay tuned I've got another aquascape coming soon, I'm just waiting on everything to arrive.
This is helpful for those like me, who love doing low-tech tanks
Me too it's so much cheaper and a nice challenge as well. I was surprised by this easy growth. I had more trouble with hair grass. It got brown tips after a few months. I guess monte Carlo feeding from the water column makes a big difference
Great tank mate! Have a few questions,
I'm using a dry start method myself, with aquasoil and Monte Carlo seeds and germinating them, it's already about half an inch thick, im going to flood the tank soon,
1-Will it survive with decent light?
2-Is it ok not to use co2 or any fertilizer?(Since it's a walstad tank?
3-What other plants should I use to get along with them?
4-Last but not least; why should I trim and when to trim the monte Carlo? Will it survive if I won't trim it(since there's mo trimming in nature lol)?
I'm trying to imitate a natural ecosystem and I'm not willing to change anything so often. I want the nature to find it's path.
Thanks for answers.
I've got some bad news for you sadly.
Carpet seeds are a scam.
It's not real monte carlo. Monte Carlo doesn't grow from seed. Once you fill the tank with water it will completely die off and wipe out everything in about 4 weeks.
In rare cases it may be Hygrophila polysperma which is actually a tall growing stem plant.
You'll have to start from scratch
😥
@@IndoorEcosystem ah... That sounds bad:(
It seems imma look what's going in a few weeks and gonna add different plants, maybe some dwarf hairgrass, idk...
Thanks for info mate... Nevertheless, I will update you, I hope it doesn't die off:(
@@VodkaRedbullTonic Honestly I wouldn't risk any more money on plants in that tank. Just rip it all up and start clean. It's not worth the chaos once it starts to melt. The ammonia spike that goes along with it will burn everything else in the tank.
You can actually carpet monte carlo really easily using a dry start method but with pots: ruclips.net/video/sVsAOBIyCwo/видео.htmlsi=hWNpxwLmVLFAS5gS I used the method in this video and it works really well and doesn't cost much at all.
I've seen a lot of peoples carpet seed horror stories over on reddit over the years.
@@IndoorEcosystem no you got it wrong,
The tank isn't flooded. There is no plants other than germinated seeds, so it's nothing to rip apart, just soil, some sands and rocks.
@@VodkaRedbullTonic Yes i know that 🙂 But you're planning on adding more and once you do flood it everything will be effected by the melt.
Heard you say something about brown on your longer grass. I have the same problems but on most of my plants. They grow just end up turning brown. I add fert once a week and have a pretty decent light. Not sure what it is. Thinking iron or potassium
I've just started dosing potassium nitrogen and phosphate (no iron) so well see what happens. If nothing comes of it it will be iron I guess the light is plenty strong.
I just bought this plant for the first time. Have a new nano paludarium with Seachem fluorite substrate capped with a layer of sand on top. For lighting, I’m just using a lamp with a special plant-growing light bulb from Home Depot. Not sure how well this will carpet/live but I’ll see.
Will be an interesting little experiment. Just make sure you don't have any critters in there that will disturb it early on. Some things will dig it up before it gets roots. Which is a nightmare.
I have gravel as my substrate. I regret not getting something else but I was told 101 different things when starting out. I do have a ton of mulm so I think that helps. But my plants are so well rooted now I'm hesitant to change. I want to switch to sand to start to see the natural behaviors a lot of fish exhibit in sand. But then I also want something with nutrients like stratum or something. I think I will wait until I move to worry about changing my substrate
You just need to start another tank 😉 then you can have both!
Looks great! I've got Monte Carlo in my low-tech tank as well. When the pot arrived via mail it looked a little worse for wear so I didn't break it up and plant it separately. It seems to be doing fine now. Would breaking it up at this point and replanting it be an issue?
Thanks :) It should be fine to break up. Just go nice and slow when you are splitting it up the more roots and stuff you keep intact the faster it will take off again. It's a surprisingly quick growing plant that grows from the smallest bit. When you trim it every single trimming can and will grow roots and spread. They are just hard to get to stay in the substrate when they are small so I usually plant pretty deep.
@@IndoorEcosystem Awesome, thank you!
I collect all the trimmings and spread them out on a piece of felt. Then I put into a plastic container with a lid and fill gently with water until felt is wet. Put a lid on it and the roots will start to grow into the felt. After a week or two, Then you can take the piece and plant the felt piece, or cut it up into smaller pieces & plant. Otherwise they just float everywhere. I do this with moss too and other tiny plant trimmings. 🇦🇺❤️
@@MissChelle I'm going to try this with my next batch. Sounds like a pretty good method to use. Cheers for the tip!
This is exactly what I was looking for, growing plants without co2. Planning on setting up a low tech tank but curious on how it will grow without co2. Thanks!
I've had a lot of success with monte Carlo and low Tech. I have a more recent video showing off another tank with an awesome carpet. The Thumbnail has Game Over on it.
As long as your tank isn't too deep and your light reaches well you can grow a good assortment of plants without problems. There are still a few that just won't grow without C02 though. UG, HCuba and a couple of rarer red plants.
@@IndoorEcosystem UG ?
mine tends to grow up then sprout roots that float in the water column. does yours do that as well? I have fluval stratum.
I get the same thing sometimes. I usually just trim the top off and replant whatever is left. It seems to keep it from growing up and forces it to go sideways.
I’ve capped my aqua soil with sand. Will Monte Carlo still grow planted into the sand or is there something easier I can use for carpeting?
How deep is your sand cap? If it's not too deep it'll be fine. But the roots might not make it into the soil easily otherwise. As for other carpetinf plants most others need CO2 unless you want to try a pearl weed carpet.
@@IndoorEcosystem I’ve removed the sand and topped up with aqua soil
Took ages but it was about 1.5cm deep sand. Was considering trying a moss carpet and maybe a homemade co2 contraption. Thanks for the reply
@@SCHOFIELD81 moss carpets are cool but you don't need any soil for them. You could just use sand it would have been a lot cheaper. Moss doesn't need many nutrients.
Nothing is as bright green like Monte Carlo though. It just stands out and looks amazing.
If you've got the time for DIY co2 it's always a nice boost! It's not required but will make things faster.
@@IndoorEcosystem I can actually get a load of monti Carlo cheap from a private seller. Got a good quality light so maybe I’ll get lucky
@@SCHOFIELD81 with a good light you're set. If the Monte Carlo is already growing in water it's even better! The stuff grown out of water melts quite bad sometimes. But does come back eventually
Awesome aquarium. What are the plants in the background?
Cheers! 🙂The reds are Alternanthera (Scarlet Temple) and the green stuff starting to come back is just good old Green Rotala.
This is great to see. I have a little 2.5 gal shrimp bowl that I have had going for a year now, no filter and no heater, and the rotala indica has completely taken it over. So I just ripped out a bunch along the front and sides, leaving it more towards the back and center and am looking for a plant that I can grow towards the front. This looks like exactly what I want, and from your video it looks like I should be able to do it.
It's super easy! I done a bowl with it as well. Works perfectly. I've found the only thing that can slow it down is depth. The deeper the water the stronger the light. But for anything around 30cms any light seems to work well.
@@IndoorEcosystem awesome. Thank you for the advice. I’m pretty excited to try this out. This bowl is amazing and I hope this will just make it that much better.
@@nickweaver3343 you're welcome! Good luck with it 🙂
Hi, did your monte carlo melt when you first filled the tank? I’m dry starting my Monte carlo for my mini cube tank and not planning to have co2. Been 1.5mths already. Carpet growing pretty well
Want to start flooding the tank and let the water cycle, so I can have my shrimps in.
Am afraid that plant will die after filling it up with water and effort will be wasted.
Any advice? Thank you!
Not this batch. This one went perfect. Normally though I get a little melt but with dry start melt is reduced dramatically. I've done 3 dry starts using the same method without CO2 and they worked very well. The longer you wait the better though. At least 8 weeks is my preferred time frame.
@@IndoorEcosystemSo we need to plant them in dry tank first before filling all water ?
@@thanatosor It's 1000x easier. But you don't have to.
@@IndoorEcosystem yeah, Im in trouble of keeping them from floating up 😂
But dry tank vs. filled tank, which will make them grow faster ?
For a 20g long shrimp tank, if I did a carpet would 1 or 2 sponge filters be enough? Or just get one that hangs on the back?
A good sized hang on back filter would be best hanging from the middle. Otherwise I'd put to sponges in. One on each side. Shrimp have a tiny bioload so you wouldn't really need crazy amounts of filtration with plants.
Hello, I have tried numerius times to grow Monte Carlo but to no avail. My Corys shove their faces underneath it and they outroot it. Second time I tried to plant the whole bit still attached to its cotton but again, Corys outrooted them. Now I am trying to make it grow by attaching it at the rocks and wood.
@@vagaman28 you can't have corys with Monte carlo sadly. They will rip it up always. Pygmys are the only safe ones
How do you keep the tank so clear?
@@bretthorowitz6136 a little bit of filter floss in the filter seems to do the trick. Nothing else special 😉
Thank you. I just started my tank, I want my Monte Carlo to grow already!!!
@@bretthorowitz6136 I know the feeling! It's slow but after a while it does start to take off. Don't be afraid to trim it when it starts growing up.
Needing CO2 is not a myth, mate. You just happen to have very soft water. I think that’s a key point you missed. Anyway, lovely tank, mate 👍🏼
Cheers for the comment :) but I'm going to throw you a curve ball. My water is above 8 PH and has crazy high gh and kh with a base TDS of 300 out of the tap. Even with a buffering aquasoil the balance is swung heavy hard. You just need good light and good soil to get it grown in then it's self sustaining with nutrients from stocked critters. The biggest thing is trimming it before it gets too thick and the under layer dies. I have to use RO or demineralised water every so often to get the gh and kh down along with my TDS. I've had it creep up to 600 before.
I am the same. Monte Carlo in ADA Amazonia, pH8 hard water, no CO2 , no liquid ferts, no root tabs, no soil, just sunlight 2 hours a day. Easiest plant I have. Java moss I cannot keep alive. seriously 😢.
I would recommend a beginner start with just this plant and ADA aquasoil. An instant garden.
EDIT: I forgot. pretty sure I have ADA Amazonia + potting mix in the tank. not just aquasoil.
Just don’t use tap water. My tap water isn’t hard but I still never use it. It’s always best to buy a good quality spring water. My tanks aren’t that large so it’s affordable but I always have room temperature spring water on hand for water changes.
I don't know if this is true or not but I've been told that once you have introduced CO² into the planted aquarium for a prolonged period of time, that shutting off or reducing the amount of the gas to the point where it's next to non existent, could damage the plants. Perhaps CO² IS a hoax... Your almost enough proof that it is.
Fair point.
Water in Australia is really soft and great to grow aquarium soil. Currently in my area it is,
Total hardness - 49 - 64 mgCac03/l
man i tried my best it didn't grow TwT
Sometimes a bad batch will melt.
But I've found it to be one of the easiest plants to grow. As along as you have good light and nutrients it goes well.
Great !! Do you add some nutrients ??
Nothing at all. I haven't added anything since it set it up 6 months ago. But I probably need to to keep the small patch of hair grass going. But I think I'll just pull it up and let the monte Carlo fill that space as well.
can i use dirt with gravel capping to grow monte carlo in a jar?
If you use dry start it will work fine. I'm growing it like that at the moment. Works well.
beautiful tank..
and is that nerite snail @ 2:23 ?
Sure is. Such cool snails. The are very slow getting around compared to. Most others though
Is constant water change necessary at first stage?
I just done 20% a week for the first month. No stocking of animals until it's established so water changes aren't really required unless you want to keep any algae issues to a minimum.
is your light at 100% and how long it turns on for ?
Cheap $5 light it only has one mode 100% and it runs for 8hrs a day :D
How much did the Monte Carlo cost you?
Don't really remember. A couple of small cups is usually only a few bucks though
So do you recommend putting it on for 8 hours from the beginning or 10 hours the first month?
I would stick with 8 less chance of a big algae flare up.
@@IndoorEcosystem thanks 🙌🏻
@@gabriel25x No problem 🙂
When should you start using fertilizer?
7 months in and I just started phosphate potassium and nitrogen. Weekly. But that's only to get in top of some hair algae that started in my moss. The nutrients from the aquasoil fish waste should sustain it for ages. I'm still waiting to see how long it wiłl go for. But I suspect there won't be any issues at all.
So only 12w cheap LED is enough ? Cool
If your tank isn't too deep. If you've got a deep tank you'll need to increase the power.
@@IndoorEcosystem my tank is 40x24x25cm , which LED/Watts light do i need to grow Monte Carlo carpet fast & healthy ?
@@thanatosor a 12w is perfect for that size. But any bigger or deeper you would slowly increase the wattage
How often you do water change?
3 the first week 40%
2 the second week 30%
1 30% a week after that
That was for the specific tank but I've also had similar success with just 40% once a week it depends on the batch or Monte Carlo you get I've found. Some is better than others.
Hey, I was getting a 1.2m x 50cm x 50cm tank coming soon and wanted to do an Iwagumi scape. I bought a Fluval 3 light out of fear of monte carlo growing upwards, but is the light too powerful for a no co2 tank?
Do you reckon I'd be able to get a carpet without co2 for such a big tank?
Thank you!
I've never tried one that big but it's worked in a fish bowl, this 5 gal and my 10 gal so I don't see why it wouldn't scale up to a bigger tank. Light and Soil are the 2 biggest factors. If your Monte Carlo starts growing up you just trim and and it promotes sideways growth. For a tank that big though I would do a dry start to get it going.
The amount of random floaters you'd get would be insanely annoying to replant. So I'd let it all take hold in dry start first.
Your build sounds like it's going to be pretty damn epic in a tank that big with that gear!
@@IndoorEcosystem whoops realised my browser logged into an old gmail account I never checked haha don't mind the switch
I'll definitely look into a dry start. I heard people wean CO2 consumption of plants - would suddenly having near infinite access to CO2 to suddenly being CO2 starved cause major melts?
@@chrishuynh_0043 I recently dry started my glass Iwagumi scape and it didn't melt back at all. I dry started with trimmings from another tank as well. So they went from being underwater to dry start then underwater a month later. Monte Carlo is way tougher than people give it credit for.
I have had some bad luck with suppliers stuff though. Melted right back to nothing. But that was just bad quality or the cold got to it perhaps (shipped in winter)
Whenever i trim Mine these days I scoop it all out and put it in trays of aquasoil and try start little trays so it's ready to go for new builds. Saves buying it all the time.
@Indoor Ecosystem how long do you think I should wait for when I flood the tank and cycle it with ammonium chloride before I add say, 30 cherry shrimp and 10 Medakas
@@chrishuynh_0043 I'd wait at least a month you will start to see roots going into the soil around the glass edges. The longer the better though 6-8 weeks is probably the best. You'll know by looking at the growth and spread though. I like to take a before shot to compare to. Cause looking at it every day it doesn't look like it's grown 😂
Gday! Great to find another Aussie fish lover. New subscriber NSW ❤️🇦🇺
Gday! Cheers for the sub! Really appreciate it :) there's a few good Aussie fish channels here on RUclips.
Not enough tho!
Where are you from?
@@MissChelle way up in FNQ originally but I'm in Poland at the moment. So quite an arrangement :)
Beautiful
And easy too 😊
How u kept your monte carlo from melting
It always melts a little bit. I've found sometimes it's just luck. If you get bad pots there's not much you can do.
Hi, I have a 20 gallon that is about 60×45×30. I have some tropica aquasoil in it. I got a box of emersed monte carlo. I split it up into smaller patches and used my fingers to stick them into the soil. It looks beautiful but has not spreaded yet. I dont know what i can do to make it grow faster. Any suggestions? I got a fluval c3 on it and about 20 neon tetras and 5 cherry shrimp.
How long as it been running for? It's usually slow for a few weeks then starts to take off after that. How long do you run your light?
The tank has been running for about 4 to 5 months. I added the monte carlo 2 days ago
I run my light for 6 hours
@@Anonymous-gh3wc You'll need to increase it to 8 to 10. Just keep an eye on algae. If you spot it coming in hard drop it back a little.
@@Anonymous-gh3wc You'll need at least 2 weeks for it to start taking root. Once it takes hold it will move reasonably fast. I suggest taking a picture every 5 days just so you can see how fast it goes. It may melt back a little as well sometimes but that's kinda random.
Can you also use Fluval stratum substrate in combination with root tabs and fertiliser?
I've never tried it. I'd be guessing it's less effective as the nutrient distribution isn't evenly spread across 100% of the carpeting area it would be spread out in patches. Which means your carpet would be patchy for a long time as it tries to find nutrients. The ferts would help a bit though. It's probably a good experiment to try actually.
@@IndoorEcosystem Thanks for letting me know! On a bit of a budget so it’s hard to get nutrient rich substrate, and I’ve heard of people using Fluval stratum successfully. Perhaps it will be something interesting to try 🤔
@@BugTheSandWorm check out some of the pond soil capped methods it seems to be a good alternative. I believe MD Fish Tanks and Mj Aquascaping have some videos on it concept. It seems to work well for plants.
@@IndoorEcosystem it literally says fluval stratum is for plants and shrimps, so distribution would be 100%, plants in my 60L tank were growing like crazy on it with no ferts or co2
@@MATIvmr good to hear! Monte Carlo should go well then
the lamp actually looks really nice for how cheap it is lol. but it confuses me. it seems to be a german brand and the packaging is on german too, yet i cant buy it anywhere around here and it only sells on poland and such
It's the best quality lamp I have seen for the price I have 15 of them in different sizes and they all still work after a few years heavy use. I figured they were all over Europe after seeing they were German branded and flagged. That really is odd.
@@IndoorEcosystem its just insane how overpriced ''aquarium lamps'' are. atm i use 2x10w sansi bulbs i had leftover from houseplants. i cant get my head around people paying like 100-200$ for a simple led strip. i mean do you even know how dirtcheap led diodes are? you can buy yourself some led strip-panel with quality samsung diodes for like 10 bucks or so and build your own lamp.
@@MaybeTiberius I have been using the cheapest lights going for a long time and they are fantastic! But I also recently upgraded to some higher end lights and there really is a difference.
But it's primarily features of convenience. The options for dimming and ramp up and ramp down times and app control are super handy.
But like you said not exactly required at all. But now that I have 13 or so tanks it's brilliant to have most on the same system without a huge pile of timers hanging out of sockets!
@@IndoorEcosystem something i always read as complains on cheap lights is something that its not waterproof, but even that to me is kind of irellevant tbh. i am too oldschool and to cautious to trust any waterproofing to begin with and i would never put a light close to a water surface without seperation so i always put some plexiglas or similar on top below the lightsource so it cant drop into the water or get water condensation to it.
@@MaybeTiberius I'm with you on that! I've never had a light need to be waterproof! Even if they are I would try my absolute best to avoid it getting wet anyway! 😁
Did you trim during your dry start period?
I never dry started this one. But for the ones I have I haven't needed to trim. It always goes sideways rather than up.
Where can I order this ?
Order which part exactly?
@@IndoorEcosystem the Monte Carlo plant ?
@@juangonzales2987 Pretty much anywhere that sells aquarium plants should have it. It's one of the most popular plants around. You might spot it around named "Micranthemum tweediei" as well.
Nice video. I really enjoyed it. I'm gonna try to grow the carpet in my 57L tank
Thanks! It should work the same in the 57L I also made a nice scape in a 50L tank with a full carpet.
Could you use gravel and root tabs?
It wouldn't be as effective as aquasoil gives you 100% coverage. So the Monte Carlo can go anywhere and get good nutrients. Root tabs are a bit more patchy.
thanks!@@IndoorEcosystem
@@Jessejam0732 No problem🙂
Do you have a pleco in there?
Had a tiny bristlenose until he got to about an inch. Then he went into my 20gal long. I needed the stone polished up. He sure didn't disappoint. I exchange them with my LFS semi regularly based on size. I give the bigger ones back and get a new baby one.