Jayefc1
Member
Im sure there is a green aqua you tube video where a Asian scape uses ada matting in the tank its pretty unusual il try and find the vid for you
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Techniques for retaining soil in island style aquascapes . . .
- Thread starter Wookii
- Start date
Jayefc1
Member
Oh yeah its Steven chong that uses the matt in the bottom of the tank
Sorry guys, another quick question. When using the cigarette filter and super glue method, I previously used this glue:
Roket Hot Cyano Glue Thin Superglue 20g Amazon product ASIN B0047YMZLC
It worked fine and reacted with the filter within seconds, but I ran out today and so bought this from the supermarket:
It doesn’t work at all - it soaks into the filter just fine, but there is no reaction.
I’d buy some more of the Roket Hot, but it’s a two week delivery time. What glue have you guys found work well?
Roket Hot Cyano Glue Thin Superglue 20g Amazon product ASIN B0047YMZLC
It worked fine and reacted with the filter within seconds, but I ran out today and so bought this from the supermarket:
It doesn’t work at all - it soaks into the filter just fine, but there is no reaction.
I’d buy some more of the Roket Hot, but it’s a two week delivery time. What glue have you guys found work well?
Yeah it is Cyanoacrylate (it’s written on the label) but it must have an additive in it that prevents the reaction.
Have you used the Gorilla glue with filters then? Is it runny enough? I’ve used the thicker stuff for plants, but not the other?
I have, just make sure you don't get the gel type but rather the liquid, which comes in an upright bottle rather than a tube.
OK, cool, and you get the full ‘smoking’ reaction with the filters with that?
OK, so I bought some of the Gorilla super glue, the normal stuff with the blue lid (not the control gel with the green lid) - and it didn’t work at all - no fizzing and smoking at all. It’s quite high viscosity too, so it takes ages to soak in.
I’ve managed to find some more of the Roket Hot on eBay on a shorter delivery time, so I’ve ordered that as I know it works.
Perhaps a bit counterintuitively @Wookii the only method that’s really worked here is simply using hardscape to plug the gaps. Buying some sacrificial rocks of whatever stone you’re using and hammering it into varying sizes. As you tip in your soil at startup, add in rock fragments of varying sizes and letting them settle into the gaps.
As @Tim Harrison previously mentioned:
You could silicone the main hardscape together (Reef type silicone or JBL Pro Haru) so it’s effectively one piece then plug the gaps with varying sized stones. Amano pulled this trick in all those videos from the Skytree tower exhibit in Sumida.
Since employing this method, barely ever get any soil leaching out even compared to the filter floss method, which is odd, as you would think a barrier of floss would be superior.
Thanks Geoff - funnily enough I ordered some grey aquarium safe silicone last night, as it occurred to me it would be easy to push into gaps, but should also be a little easier to remove and peel off from the rocks if I break the scape down.
I was going to use some of the Oase a FoamFix but the bloody nozzle snapped off on me as soon as I first tried to use it.
I don’t want the rocks bonded too permanently in case I decide to rescape in the future, so I’ll probably bond with the cig filters now, in the absence of the FoamFix, to secure everything together, as I can break that down in the future.
I do have a bag of small chunks of Seiryu stone that I’m using to plug the larger gaps on the visible sides, and I have some chunks of lava rack for the areas that aren’t visible. Then I might just fill any remaining gaps with some black filter foam I have, and use the grey silicone for the smaller gaps And against the glass. I then have some brown fine nylon fabric to try and line the inside of each soils areas to act as a barrier.
Hopefully that will be belt and braces enough to prevent any of the soil powder finding its way through.
I think the graded sizes is what does it with that method. When you knock the hardscape during maintenance (we all will) it reshuffles into position to maintain the barrier. Dynamic barrier.
Couldn’t agree more. Seems pretty insane to make something as ancient as Carboniferous limestone for example ‘one use only’ 😂
Placing weight downwards with a fixed structure like a wabi kusa ball with plants in to hold the soil topography starts to make a lot of sense also. Giant, relatively light structures that don’t alter their shape on a sloped surface made of smaller circular clay balls... just enough to hold it together until the plant roots act like piles driven into the ground without applying downward weight/force.
Although you could use anything really, garden weed membrane for example, to create a barrier, the picture you originally posted at the beginning of this thread requires more than a barrier. Hence all the above.
Couldn’t agree more. Seems pretty insane to make something as ancient as Carboniferous limestone for example ‘one use only’ 😂
Placing weight downwards with a fixed structure like a wabi kusa ball with plants in to hold the soil topography starts to make a lot of sense also. Giant, relatively light structures that don’t alter their shape on a sloped surface made of smaller circular clay balls... just enough to hold it together until the plant roots act like piles driven into the ground without applying downward weight/force.
Although you could use anything really, garden weed membrane for example, to create a barrier, the picture you originally posted at the beginning of this thread requires more than a barrier. Hence all the above.
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