One day is too soon to know much of anything, but, I have to tell you, your water looks remarkably clear for a brand new NPT! How much soil do you have in there?
my first aquascaping , did i make mistake?
hello
yesterday I just tried to make my first aquascape after watching few videos about how to make aquascape with walstad method on youtube its makes me interested to try it, it looks very easy in the video but what I experienced was quite difficult.
my first difficulty is soil, i cant find any suitable soil except to buy dedicated soil for aquascape as well as fertilizer and others things..So I decided to take dirt soil in the mountains near my house and try to filter out unwanted particles such as big gravel , worm , bug and other pests.
my second difficulty i have no idea what gravel or sand to use for top layer..and so i decided to use cheap black volcanic sand.
and my last difficulty is i have trouble planting plants because the sand is too light , i have to several times to replanting because the plants float after being filled with water.
-the volume of the jar are 2 liter and 4 liter ( i did 2 jars at the same time)
- size of the substrate dirt is 2.5 cm (1 inch)
-size of the sand is 3cm (1 inch more)
-plants are used (vallisneria spiralis, ludwigia sp red, cryptocoryne wendtii , bacopa monnieri , sagittaria subulata)
-for bulb i use cheap white LED bulb (3W for 2 liter and 5W for 4 liter)
some of the plants are turning yellow especilly vallisneria maybe this is because i had to pinch the plant too strong tight with my tweezers when replanting , should i worry about it?
here are some photos i took today
![Plant Water Green Fluid Food storage containers]()
![Plant Food storage containers Drinkware Liquid Ingredient]()
![Plant Flower Houseplant Terrestrial plant Flowerpot]()
![Plant Houseplant Flowerpot Terrestrial plant Flower]()
thanks in advance
yesterday I just tried to make my first aquascape after watching few videos about how to make aquascape with walstad method on youtube its makes me interested to try it, it looks very easy in the video but what I experienced was quite difficult.
my first difficulty is soil, i cant find any suitable soil except to buy dedicated soil for aquascape as well as fertilizer and others things..So I decided to take dirt soil in the mountains near my house and try to filter out unwanted particles such as big gravel , worm , bug and other pests.
my second difficulty i have no idea what gravel or sand to use for top layer..and so i decided to use cheap black volcanic sand.
and my last difficulty is i have trouble planting plants because the sand is too light , i have to several times to replanting because the plants float after being filled with water.
-the volume of the jar are 2 liter and 4 liter ( i did 2 jars at the same time)
- size of the substrate dirt is 2.5 cm (1 inch)
-size of the sand is 3cm (1 inch more)
-plants are used (vallisneria spiralis, ludwigia sp red, cryptocoryne wendtii , bacopa monnieri , sagittaria subulata)
-for bulb i use cheap white LED bulb (3W for 2 liter and 5W for 4 liter)
some of the plants are turning yellow especilly vallisneria maybe this is because i had to pinch the plant too strong tight with my tweezers when replanting , should i worry about it?
here are some photos i took today
thanks in advance
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There are a few recent-ish threads on the forum about increasing water hardness. There is a recipe in Ecology of the Planted Aquarium to increase hardness, there are Wonder Shells which are dissolvable "shells" that increase hardness, or you can try using crushed coral/aragonite/etc (although this tends to release more slowly and may not be adequate on its own, depending on your base water parameters).
Couple of threads that may interest you:
Increasing GH with Wonder Shells
For those living in NYC, Seattle, Raleigh, etc where water is ultra soft (GH = 0-2), Wonder Shells may be an easy and fast way to increase water hardness. Not only that, but the shells reportedly contain other nutrients associated with hardwater (Mg, K, S, B, etc). This is a bonanza for...
www.aquaticplantcentral.com
Increasing Water Hardness Recipe
Recently, I increased water hardness in my tanks with growing guppies, plants, and molting shrimp. This is because the well water I use went from a GH of 10-17, when I last measured it back around 1991 and 2007, to a too-low GH of 3. The decrease was due to continuous rainfall last few years...
www.aquaticplantcentral.com
Thanks for posting this. It shows that increasing water hardness is complicated--and to be avoided if possible.There are a few recent-ish threads on the forum about increasing water hardness. There is a recipe in Ecology of the Planted Aquarium to increase hardness, there are Wonder Shells which are dissolvable "shells" that increase hardness, or you can try using crushed coral/aragonite/etc (although this tends to release more slowly and may not be adequate on its own, depending on your base water parameters).
Couple of threads that may interest you:
Increasing GH with Wonder Shells
For those living in NYC, Seattle, Raleigh, etc where water is ultra soft (GH = 0-2), Wonder Shells may be an easy and fast way to increase water hardness. Not only that, but the shells reportedly contain other nutrients associated with hardwater (Mg, K, S, B, etc). This is a bonanza for...
Increasing Water Hardness Recipe
Recently, I increased water hardness in my tanks with growing guppies, plants, and molting shrimp. This is because the well water I use went from a GH of 10-17, when I last measured it back around 1991 and 2007, to a too-low GH of 3. The decrease was due to continuous rainfall last few years...
Hopefully, her tapwater has adequate hardness and/or her soil is releasing enough calcium, magnesium, etc to compensate for the potential problem of ultra-soft water..
thankss for a lot of informations!There are a few recent-ish threads on the forum about increasing water hardness. There is a recipe in Ecology of the Planted Aquarium to increase hardness, there are Wonder Shells which are dissolvable "shells" that increase hardness, or you can try using crushed coral/aragonite/etc (although this tends to release more slowly and may not be adequate on its own, depending on your base water parameters).
Couple of threads that may interest you:
Increasing GH with Wonder Shells
For those living in NYC, Seattle, Raleigh, etc where water is ultra soft (GH = 0-2), Wonder Shells may be an easy and fast way to increase water hardness. Not only that, but the shells reportedly contain other nutrients associated with hardwater (Mg, K, S, B, etc). This is a bonanza for...Increasing Water Hardness Recipe
Recently, I increased water hardness in my tanks with growing guppies, plants, and molting shrimp. This is because the well water I use went from a GH of 10-17, when I last measured it back around 1991 and 2007, to a too-low GH of 3. The decrease was due to continuous rainfall last few years...
I heard from my father that the tap water in my city uses a filtration system with chlorine so I believe that the tap water I'm using may be too soft, but i think i should check it again just to be sure.
today i decided to replace some of the water by about 50%, i used dechlorinate water and also added a bit of dolomite sand (with ratio 4 gallon water and 1 teaspoon of dolomit sand) I read that on google about dolomite sand can increase water hardness and contains calcium and magnesium but im not sure about what I did just by dissolving it in water now i regret it perhaps i should change again the water next day? or just let it be?
update after 2 weeks some things happen
![Plant Water Houseplant Green Leaf]()
![Plant Terrestrial plant Yellow Grass Flowering plant]()
![Plant Fluid Terrestrial plant Water Organism]()
![Plant Water Plant community Green Leaf]()
i planning to make next walstad method tank in bigger aquarium (12x8x8 inches) should i mix dirt with vermicompost (worm casting)? will it give better nutrients and boost the longevity of the nutrients? or it just waste my money because im planning to buy the vermicompost
![Green Plant Pet supply Flooring Grass]()
![Plant Ingredient Compost Insect Mixture]()
- i experience brown algae (i believe its diatom algae but not sure) added snails to take care of the algae after few days its almost clean.
- i saw some white worms swimming around , i did research on google they called detritus worm i read they're not harmful i think its probably a good sign for my tank.
- trimmed the sag subulata , added little amazon sword and amazon frogbit.
- haven't changed the water at all since first water change 2 weeks ago (I can't wait for the next water change looks like it's still no needed to water change right now).
- seems like my ludwigia red will not make it , i dont know why i think its lack of some nutrients from the substrate 🤔and the vals bit more greener now but some of the leaves still looks like gonna melt.
- bacopa moneri and crypts seen growing new shoots.
i planning to make next walstad method tank in bigger aquarium (12x8x8 inches) should i mix dirt with vermicompost (worm casting)? will it give better nutrients and boost the longevity of the nutrients? or it just waste my money because im planning to buy the vermicompost
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