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Looking forward to the journal Daniel.

Garden riddle is what you are looking for. I got one from B&Q last year and it too had 3 different grade meshes :thumbup: about £12 if i remember correctly.

I'd cycle the tank with the substrate (and plants in), that way it too can settle and start to begin bacterial/biological development which will only increase the benefits for when livestock is eventually added. I dare say most mature heavily planted reasonably live stocked aquariums could run...

Hi, yes lava rock would be fine to use, you could also use molor clay or large grain gravel in tights/retainer bags to add height, then use the decorative sand on top like you say. The lava rocks or bags of larger grain material will allow good water movement within the deeper substrate, be much...

Hi Chris, im currently using unipac limpopo black sand in the foreground of my sticks & stones journal which ive found no issue with and its very fine grain. The senegal sand will be fine. Im dosing ei and have no root tabs under my foreground 'carpet' of elecharis sp. mini, marsilea hirsuta...

Hi, cant see it being an issue, it has high cec so will adsorb nutrients in the same way as the ada, just isnt loaded with them from the start. Many people use cat litter as a substrate so you might as well use it if you already have it. If your worried about it working its way upwards, simply...

Yeah, either pop a new post in the aquascaping sub forum or do it when you start a journal :)

You could of course have a dedicated plant substrate area, but also have a nice sand bed for your corydoras.....although sods law dictates they would most likely ignore the sand bed in favour of mixing it up with the plants :) Lovely tank btw, look forward to your next, will you be documenting...

The dosing of fertilisers to feed your plants :)

Hi, I'd do 50% every day for the first week, slowing down to every other day 2nd week, 3rd day 3rd week and then regular 50% per week routine changes from there on. Cheerio, Ady

Hi, that's unusual, every time I've used it the water has been crystal clear unless accidentally disturbed. I'd change all the water and refill slowly, no point in clogging the filters unnecessarily or leaving a silt layer of fine dust :) Cheerio, Ady.

Yep, agree with Foxfish, with plants and a mature filter things should cycle faster. Just remember to carry out large and frequent water changes to keep things clean whilst the plants adapt. Cheerio, Ady

"gotta go girlfriend is back and she reckons I'm a geek..." Classic! Lol

Bummer about postage! I think all ADA soils have an ammonia spike though, took this from TGM website: ADA Aqua Soil Africana (9 Litre) Click image(s) to enlarge ADA Aqua Soil is the original Nature Aquarium substrate, and isused by famous aquascaper Takashi Amano in all his Nature Aquarium...

Oh and I think TGM have free postage on orders over £50, so won't cost you any more!

Hi Andrew, ADA is a great substrate to use, full of nutrients and easily planted into and banked. I've heard that Tom Barr has some which is 5 years old so it doesn't seem to break down as badly as some think. I'd imagine it all depends on how it is used/abused as to if it crumbles or not. The...

Bummer mate, sorry to hear that. Iain (easerthegeezer) had an incident not too long ago where a lot of his tank water ended up on the carpet. Im sure he just wet vac'd it out and it was good as new.....maybe message him for confirmation, or maybe he'll pop an answer up here when he sees it...

8) Thanks Clive. Is it generally the true aquatic species that tend to have the ability to extract carbonates for conversion or just a few limited species? Or do all plants have this in their survival pack, just some more so than others and does it mean that those with low carbonate water need...

Hi Clive, sorry if this sounds dumb, but its always intrigued me slightly..... I have low carbonate water, would vallis choose c02 or the kh extraction process first?....or both? Im guessing that its harder work for the plant to convert the KH to c02 and therefore if c02 is already available...

Maybe post them in the for sale section, there are swap, donate and free options there too :thumbup:

Hi, i dont see why it would make a difference if your going to be setting up again straight away, just pour the ebi on top and Bobs your uncle! The Ebi soil will work in exactly the same way, and depending on how old the aquasoil is that will do too. Ive just added new aquasoil powder over some...

Yeah but I'm skint now so need to save for my plants :(

I don't think there will be another ammonia spike with reused and dried aqua soil, only when using new as a cap. The daily 50% water changes in the early stages will help hugely with this and mature filters etc only add an extra safeguard. Having said that ill be starting from scratch and won't...

Just to be clear Ian is this combined with a mature filter?

Well I've just removed all my old aqua soil and power sand and it's currently laid out on cut bin bags with drainage holes in the back garden. Unfortunately the British weather may well not provide the drying power needed, but I'll just pop it back in damp as a base to build substrate height and...

Great start Aqua, thanks for taking the time to share. When i have some samples ill add photos too in a similar display. Ady.

Im sure there would be. I think the best idea for any substrate provider is to produce wet images as the colour changes dramatically from what you see in the bag when you submerge it....a database like that would help. It could maybe be started on here if thats what your suggesting? Of course...

Hi Alastair, i in no way meant to seem flippant, and i also must have misunderstood your post as i thought that was the amount of contaminant found in 9l, not only 1l. Also you suggested it may be quartz stone so if it is definitely glass then of course this is unacceptable and im sure a...

if the soil is taken from nature is it not natural to have a certain amount of 'contaminent' material in there too..... i know its expensive stuff but in 9l that doesnt seem so bad?

Nice to hear, its what im using in my nano!

I was only suggesting this as logi cat specified bare bottom. Of course planted tanks allow a little leniency, and appear more natural, however good water is down to good tank husbandry too and for some, when breeding, bare bottom is easier to keep on top of. clearly without anything in the...

it should be noted that we dont know for what reason logi cat wants bare bottom. Some breeding species like discus rely on water perameters more than anything to spawn and bare bottom allows easy sight of uneaten food, detrius etc which can be easily cleaned. Substrates can allow uneaten food...

i suspect if you completely strip the tank, and use a mature filter there will be no issue... presuming not too great a bio load for the size of filter. If going from planted to bare bottom ensure the filter capacity is large enough to cope with the fish in its own right without relying on...

Your root feeding plants wont like it much! :lol: :lol: Depends on what you mean and for what reason.