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Westland Aquatic Compost
- Thread starter Jhncf
- Start date
Yup, it'll grow plants very well. Just be aware that added limestone will also push up your pH and hardness to some degree, which may be an issue if you were planning on keeping/breeding obligate freshwater fish in said tank.
I was hoping you'd reply! My pH and hardness are low from the tap just now so hopefully it won't be too much of a problem, only looking to keep shrimp and a few smaller fish, not too bothered about breeding though. Is there any preparation needed or just put down a layer of the compost and then a layer of sand? Thank you!
Sounds fine then. Just stick it in and give it a decent sand cap. I know Westland claim that the soil has already been through it's ammonia leaching phase, but I'd still err on the side of caution and hold off stocking for a couple of weeks until your plants are established and you can see lots of new growth, unless you're using an established filter.
Hi all,
If I want to seed some larger filter sponges or ceramic media etc and only have a small established filter sponge or small volume of alfagrog etc. available, I just squeeze out the established sponge and then soak the new media in the suspension for ~30 minutes, you can either do this in a shallow tray, or you can put an air stone in with it, but it is important to keep it oxygenated until it goes into the new filter, and that then the seeded filter is turned on straight away.
The nitrifying bacteria are much more resilient and flexible than traditional fish keeping wisdom would have you believe, and will quickly establish colonies, the size of which will be dependent upon the supply of NH4+, NO2- etc. If the nutrient supply diminishes many of the bacteria will become dormant, but they will start dividing again as soon as that supply returns.
cheers Darrel
You can just take the media out of the internal and put it in the new filter.
If I want to seed some larger filter sponges or ceramic media etc and only have a small established filter sponge or small volume of alfagrog etc. available, I just squeeze out the established sponge and then soak the new media in the suspension for ~30 minutes, you can either do this in a shallow tray, or you can put an air stone in with it, but it is important to keep it oxygenated until it goes into the new filter, and that then the seeded filter is turned on straight away.
The nitrifying bacteria are much more resilient and flexible than traditional fish keeping wisdom would have you believe, and will quickly establish colonies, the size of which will be dependent upon the supply of NH4+, NO2- etc. If the nutrient supply diminishes many of the bacteria will become dormant, but they will start dividing again as soon as that supply returns.
cheers Darrel
Tim Harrison
Member
No need to worry too much about it upping pH or hardness - it's mostly peat moss and loam - with a pH of between 6 and 6.5. I've used it for years, and it performs very well.
Hmm. It gave me pH7.6-7.8 and increased conductivity by nearly 200 microS.
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Tim Harrison
Member
Really, that's surprising, a bit like JI No. 3 then? It has a minimal affect my parameters the other way, but then my water is rock hard to start with.
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Very few. I never had much luck with H. pinattifada in my harder water tank compared to the soft water ones but it could easily have been another factor at play.
Can't think of any others from personal experience.
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Tim Harrison
Member
Some but equally there are plenty that thrive in such conditions. IME it doesn't matter that much there are plenty more important parameters to think about like flow, distribution, nutrients and CO2, and of course light...and getting the balance between them all right.
