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The Steep Log

Joined
6 Feb 2024
Messages
285
Location
Hampshire
I found this lovely piece of mossy wood on a Christmas walk near the local village of Steep. I've been wanting to do something simple with found materials for a while and a miraculous couple of hours of children playing happily with one another this morning finally gave me some time.
Whilst reading some more similar journals would certainly make things smoother, I'm often the type to stubbornly try things myself. I should probably have paid more attention to what the wood might actually be; It may turn out that it rots away rather quickly but hey! I'll watch it do so. Some of the little sticky bits are from my small aquascaping stash, others just picked up at random from an entirely different location, as are the flinty rocks.
A small sprig of peace lily looks nice at the moment, and I'm hoping that I can get some emersed rotala going as I've loved seeing that on the weeping moss in the 60 Lush.
A tiny fluval pump is sending water to a small hole in the back of the main wood, about half way up. I'm currently using tap (with Prime as I figure it's less likely to immediately kill everything) though intending to top up with rain water going forward. Probably everything will die off in the mid term because of wrong light levels, or it being too damp or not damp enough or not evenly damp or whatnot. I've got the lamp with a little led cob bulb on for a couple of hours morning and evening, and thinking to do the pump on the same schedule. There's no heater, and the hallway it lives in gets pretty chilly overnight. I guess that's probably good for the terrestrial moss, and maybe not so great for the patch of weeping moss and the rotala sprig I've added. We shall see...
 

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Well, the log is still green. Sadly the sprig of peace lily very quickly decided it was unhappy and died off. Now I'm trying a few bacopa cuttings and java fern babies, along with some succulent pieces. Oh, and a chunk of moss off the garage roof, which I appreciate probably wants entirely different conditions from the rest of it, but was looking so nice with all its little green shoots.
The water lettuce does not seem happy and the rotala also died. Whilst I imagine the temperature and lack of nutrients are factors, there is also the (uninvited) occupant to blame...
 

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My son grew, admittedly slowly, a lovely crypt parva surrounded by moss collected locally in a big jar a few years back, he only took the lid off for an hour or so once a week, lit with just a table lamp and standard LED household low wattage bulb, but it was all kept moist and humid but had a gravel drain under weed control fabric to keep the soil from being completely saturated, he also added a lot of carbon to his soil mix, he followed a recipe from the internet. He also deliberately had a colony of woodlice, no slugs were allowed. Sorry I didn't take a photo, tempted now to have a go at replicating.

What is the bulb in the lamp? I about a decade ago when my T5 fittings melted, I bought two 60 watt corn LEDs, they did a good job on a deeper than ideal aquarium, though I never quite got the reflectors just right with such big cumbersome bulbs.
 
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What is the bulb in the lamp?
Sorry @Connswater, I ignored you there. Let me get back on that one, I've got some more in boxes still so I'll find out. I used it previously on this tank and worked fine. BUT, I have to admit that after only a few days my timer packed in and so actually the log has been lit instead by the lamp that gets switched on in the hallway overnight. It's just a little 3.5watt led thing but it's on anyways so I don't actually use that bulb at all. Probably it doesn't do much for the plants, but it's on all night and the moss was in a fairly shady spot to start with so.. maybe?
Whilst we're admitting things, I also have only topped up with rain once so far, and tap once. Also the pump is just turned on for around a hour each evening
have a go at replicating.
Do it! And keep us posted!
 
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