Recent content by BustedFrontBumper

Ah man. Good thing this forum exists so I can ask my questions before spending the money or stressing my fish! Okay. So I'll stick with my old gravel, which is full of Nitrates I can't get rid of. That's a plus, right? At least some plants like Nitrates? And I guess I assumed that the fast...

Mmm, I'm realizing I'm using the word "substrate" when I mean a fertilized layer underneath my existing gravel substrate.

So I was under the impression that i could/should layer something like Eco-Complete under the gravel I already have. That way I have something beneficial for my plants to tap into and something pleasing for me to look at. I would rather not be using root tabs because I thought a substrate would...

Cool Cool. That makes a lot of sense. I think I was in love with the idea of much lower maintenance with the greater rate of decomposition in soil. If I use a manufactured substrate then I need to be siphoning the bottom? How do I avoid mixing the substrate? Deeper gravel layer on top? I...

I've been slowly poking through Diana's book in preparation for moving and reworking my fish tank to be more live-plant friendly. Currently I'm only really thinking seriously about plants that grow well on roots (like Anubias barteri var. nana, Microsorum pteropus, & Taxiphyllum sp. "Spiky") (is...

That's awesome. Thanks for the insight and reassurance!

I treat my water with ______ and allow my water to sit overnight with a heater in it to bring it up to temp before doing my water change the next day. What I meant was using something like API's pH Down on my new water before adding it to the tank, that way I can gradually bring my water back...

My pH is coming out of my tap at around 7.8. Should I be treating my water's pH before I put it into my tank? Would pH be effected by a water filter? Is pH connected to the hardness of my water, and so would a water softener help lower my pH? Yeah, so my water is also fairly hard. I know...

I think the title sums it up, but for detail: 1 I have a friend who has two HUGE anubias. We want to know how to trim them down so that I can have some trimmings that will grow in mine and he has some more space in his tank without killing the growth of his plants. Any ideas on where along...

Hah! Excellent. Thanks for your article! So here are my roots. It does look like the water is browning up a little so when I do my rinses I'll be sure to use hot water, and to rinse them a few extra times if I'm really getting a lot of leaching that way. Glad to be a part of a good...

Howdy, ladies and fellas. I went out in the woods with a friend and found a downed hardwood (I think it's a beech) that had pulled up some of its roots. He said it had been down for a few years. So I snipped/sawed off some of the best looking roots and one that was already a little rotted/soft...