Been quite a while since I posted pics of my tanks here.
Also been a while since I've gotten to catch up with Neilanh, hope all is well bud and maybe see you att he Holiday potluck for GWAPA?
All of these tanks use a mineralized soil methodology that a friend in GWAPA created to simulate the silt he saw in nature.
The great thing about the system is the need to dose the water column, even in high light, is almost eliminated. I occasionally dose traces of Potassium and that is it.
The down side of the system is Twofold.
One, you need patience. Plants take longer to establish and grow in the beginning, and you are very prone to excess nutrient based algaes like green water in the beginning. It takes patience and restraint to let it work the kinks out.
Two, you can not dose the water column to any great degree. This means there are some plants I cannot keep alive - Ludwigia Pantanal, Tonina Belem are a couple that are utte failures. Blyxa Japonica, Blyxa Aubertii do not do well, hanging on for a long time but slowly fading.
All in all though, an amazing way to keep a higher light tank.
180g, set up in January:
33g shrimp and cray tank, set up in February:
Ammania Bonsai,some say this is the true original Rotala Indica:
75g, set up in spring:
stems like Ludwigia 'Cuba' and broad leaf Stellata showing color:
50g, set up, umm, 2 months ago?
Also been a while since I've gotten to catch up with Neilanh, hope all is well bud and maybe see you att he Holiday potluck for GWAPA?
All of these tanks use a mineralized soil methodology that a friend in GWAPA created to simulate the silt he saw in nature.
The great thing about the system is the need to dose the water column, even in high light, is almost eliminated. I occasionally dose traces of Potassium and that is it.
The down side of the system is Twofold.
One, you need patience. Plants take longer to establish and grow in the beginning, and you are very prone to excess nutrient based algaes like green water in the beginning. It takes patience and restraint to let it work the kinks out.
Two, you can not dose the water column to any great degree. This means there are some plants I cannot keep alive - Ludwigia Pantanal, Tonina Belem are a couple that are utte failures. Blyxa Japonica, Blyxa Aubertii do not do well, hanging on for a long time but slowly fading.
All in all though, an amazing way to keep a higher light tank.
180g, set up in January:
33g shrimp and cray tank, set up in February:
Ammania Bonsai,some say this is the true original Rotala Indica:
75g, set up in spring:
stems like Ludwigia 'Cuba' and broad leaf Stellata showing color:
50g, set up, umm, 2 months ago?