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I've been wanting to do a paludarium for a long time. I ran a trial with a ZooMed 18x18x36 that went really well, so I had the LFS order me a custom size pal. 24x36x37 : water depth 12" (approx 44 gal) Drilled in the rear corners, connected to an FX4 that's routed through custom PVC pipe to my...

It can take quite a while for some plants to acclimate and then start growing. Monte Carlo in particular seems to idle for a while in my tanks and then take off like crazy. You might need a more comprehensive fertilization strategy if you have CO2 and light. Are you measuring CO2 level with a...

Update! - Growth has been "decent" I've trimmed 3 x already. :D

New Tank! My 180 is finally growing in better. Has been a journey!

Update! Got some plants in, dealt with a major thread algae outbreak, and things are starting to look better! All that ADA substrate put out SO MUCH ammonia that I wasn't prepped for the amount of water changes that would be needed. Holy cow. The testing results are after a 50% water change...

Yes! Just ordered: -Micranthemum Monte Carlo -Hydrocotyle verticillata -Eleocharis parvula Planning to order: -Ranunculus inundatus -Glosssostigma elatinoides I also have a bunch of red stem plants on order. There's a small crop of Cryptocoryne flamingo growing in another tank that I may...

Yes, there is a nice big sump (~30 gallons iirc) underneath. My CO2 reactor (NilocG) is plumbed in-line with the return from the pump, and I'll be using a pH controller to regulate CO2 delivery to the tank. I fertilize with GLA macro and Plantex CSM-B micro daily on my high-tech tanks...

I've been working on this (very) slowly for over a year. I finally got everything together and had the means and time to do it. Substrate: ADA PowerSand, Amazonia Lights: MicMol G3 Pro Hardscape: Acid-washed Black Seiryu stone Still planning out which plants and fish I want.

I used some of the Chinese black boxes from amazon for my planted 65high. About 27”. Works great. I just turn down the actinic channel. Mars Aqua brand.

HCl wash cleans off a bunch of the garbage on the surface and deepens the cracks and texture of the stone. For black seiryu stone, it brings out the black and white much much better. Going to try the stock light and see if it will grow Monte Carlo. Probably just shrimp. I have a backup...

Still in the just-built stage. Going to do a dry start to get the carpet in, probably. Seiryu stone washed in HCl acid. ADA Amazonia II

Super nice tank!

Just for kicks I emailed Caribsea to ask how Ecocomplete actually benefits plants if it's an intert substrate and has a very low CEC. This is what the company rep answered: CEC quantifies the how many cations (positively charged ions which includes the metals) are on the...

Fertilizer, light, and CO2 are the best way to get good growth of whatever you want to grow. I’ve had good luck with Monte Carlo and dwarf hairgrass. Less luck with baby tears but the light in that tank wasn’t great.

The side-by-sides come down to how strictly you want to adhere to experimental best practices. But, ultimately, we're not trying to grow sweet potatoes on the moon, here. For practical applications, I doubt that the chemical composition of inert substrates makes a big difference in low-tech...

That's a great chart! (Sadly published about 4 years before I started working on planted tanks.) ...a great chart that clearly states how little CEC non-organic and non-clay containing substrates actually have. Let's look at 19. Flourite as an example of something I've used. Flourite's CEC...

I had a couple of additional thoughts that make these substrates beneficial options for beginner/inexperienced planted tank hobbyists: Better safety compared to the soils like ADA (Early ammonia spike) Easier maintenance if you use the versions with larger particle size. So, ultimately, if...

I think I see where you're going with this. "Inert" meaning that it lacks organic components that the active substrates (like ADA Amazonia), I assume? It was my understanding that the porosity of the volcanic substrates allowed for some sequestration/storage of nutrients that are in the water...

I really like Ecocomplete and Flourite (In all its various forms). It's more expensive than regular sand, but you do get some benefits to plants without having it be too hideously expensive. I've used dirt (sand cap), Eco/Flourite, Fluval stratum, plain sand. Grown plants fine in everything...

10" of soil under sand might be a big problem, yes. I did a dirted tank and had amazing success for 2.5 years with the plants. Fish suffered because of the setup and my constant replanting. That was awful. If you are going to do dirt, do the layout ONCE and then LEAVE IT BE. Don't move...

I think Goatnad is right. Utricularia species are actually carnivorous. They're a cool plant in concept, but I think they're a nuisance in the aquarium. I know I hate having it in my shrimp tank. Been plucking out hunks from my hydrocotyle mat for years now. :banghead:

I'll second this. Purigen works well for tannins in my tanks.

Really nice work with the plants. Makes me wish you had time for the real ones! :) Still, this is by far one of the best artificial planted tanks I've ever seen. Great job!

Bought 2 of these. Will update again when I put them in the build in a few months. https://ussolid.com/motorized-ball-valve-1-stainless-steel-electric-ball-valve-110v-ac-by-u-s-solid.html

Brainstorming and planning a sump for my 150g freshwater planted tank rebuild (yet to be started, but the tank's torn down at the moment). I'm worried about flooding the house, mainly because I want to have the return line send water down to the bottom of the tank to help with flow distribution...