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Deep sand bed is fine as long as the bottom is not abruptly stirred up in water change or by rough fish. I keep large cichlid that dig deep and often, so my sand bed is paper thin and I grow mostly epiphytes and a few stem and rosette plants rooted in net pots. If I placed root tabs in pots...

It's natural to have bubbles built up in thick substrate due to anaerobic condition. The composition of the bubble gases vary depending on the amount of organic matter. If the gas doesn't smell, it is harmless nitrogen gas from anaerobic denitrification of nitrate. Bubbling occur when I...

Both my 75g and 125g run on CO2. A single blue acara should be ok with plants. I currently have a 7 inch male blue acara and a 9 inch male green terror acara in my planted 125g. In my planted 75g, I have two 5 inch female blue acara. I have to segregate the sex of the acara as pairing...

Not sure what boisterous fish you have. Most say that large boisterous cichlid are incompatible with plants. I took the challenge and have been keeping small to large cichlid ranging from 3 to 10 inch in planted 75 and 125 gal tank. My strategy is to keep mostly tough epiphytes Anubias, Java...

Professional Nature aquariums have lights hang above open top tank. I cannot do that as I keep big fish that will jump out and must have LED strips sit on top of glass lid. The glass lid not only reflects some light away, but also invites algae growth on the underside from condensation where...

I have a DIY auto feeder for small fry as illustrated in the attached pics. Each weekend food block lasts 3 to 4 days, so by stacking several blocks up in a floater and release one at a time, I can extend food availability for up to 2 weeks. I don’t feed adult fish, only small fry less than 1...

I will not trust anyone to feed my fish, not even my wife when I go away for trip. Except for small fry, fish can be fast for up to a month with no long term harm. Brooding MBUNA female and male pleco guard their eggs and hatchlings from 2 to 4 weeks without feeding. The number one killer of...

One brand name is superglue. In leu of tissue paper, you can use cigarette filter. Here is a tutorial.

No, I don’t have temp issue with the submersible LEDs as they come with low wattage (0.1 to 0.2 watt) diodes only warm to touch. The reason I go with submersible is to achieve broader light coverage as having strip LEDs alone sitting on tank top cast shadow on the top front, back and sides...

I am on the extreme end using a dozen LED to distribute light over my 6 foot long tank. They are mostly low wattage submersible LEDs tied with fish line on the front, back, middle and side rims inside the tank and high wattage strip LEDs placed on the glass top. With distributed light and no...

Both German Iris and Anubias are rhizome plants that expand horizontally by extending the tips of the rhizome with new leaves. Old Iris rhizome gets dense, continues to leave, but thin out in roots and stops flowering. No such decline is observed in old Anubias rhizome that continues to send...

Anubias petite not just have tiny leaves, but also delicate thin stems and roots that break off easily. From time to time, I have to pick up and re glue floating pieces. The large leaf varieties, on the other hand, have thick tough stems that I can only cut off with a scissors, and thick root...

How fast Anubias spread depends on the variety and whether you have CO2. In my CO2 tank, the large leaf varieties grow fastest requiring pruning 3 to 4 times yearly to control size. The median leaf “nana”varieties grow half as fast, requiring pruning no more than twice a year. The “nano...

Since you don’t root any plant in the substrate, there is no benefit of having MTS to aerate the plant roots. Your substrate should be very thin, no more than 1/2 inch. The easiest way to remove detritus is to vacuum the substrate along side with a turkey baster to blow up the dust. Once MTS...

Don't count on MTS to remove detritus. MTS will consume uneaten food and contribute more detritus from pooping and diseased shells. The only way to reduce detritus is through substrate vacuuming. I regret introducing MTS to my shrimp tank and now I have to find way to reduce their population...

RRF needs full sunlight to turn red. Even half day filtered sunlight in my west facing window is not enough. After I placed mine outdoor in summer, it turned blood red.

It won’t be desirable lawn grass if the species requires periodic division to eliminate dead centers regardless of growing habit. I have mixture of tall and red fescue in my lawn, the former being clump forming and the latter runner spreading. I had blue fescue ornamental grass in my...

It makes sense that some plants and animal commit natural suicide as individual for the survival of the species. Cephalopods and annual are classic example. Technically, developing dead center is not suicide, just partial death, as the plant appears to move out in ring. Eventually, the dead...

Most aquatic plants are bog perennials, yet I've never heard that aquatic plants ever develop dead center, even grown semi emerged in ponds. Garden perennials are different and many will develop dead center after a few years. A common practice for gardeners is to dig out the dead center to...

The fertilizer trade has standardized labeling of ingredients in equivalent nutrient values, not necessarily related to the chemicals of origin. For example, potassium is always labeled as potash (K2O) equivalent, where the chemical is typically derived from potassium sulfate. Check this...

I agree. ppm is confusing as it depends on the unit of reference, and ppmv is the worst. You have to imagine that gases in air can be partitioned into separate volumes so the ppm ratio can be calculated. In reality, gas molecules commingle in the air space and can only be separated in the...

Your math is correct in that 1.22 ppm_molar CO2 in water is equivalent to 3 mg/l. But molar fraction is not concentration, not equivalent to ppmv (by volume) in water, and not appropriate for concentration comparison between two media. Gas concentration in air is expressed in ppmv or...

In air, ppm by volume and by molar is the same due to Avogadro law. Atmospheric CO2 is not exhaustible in open environment but can happen in green house containment. On the other end, indoor CO2 can build up quickly to 1000-2000 ppmv in a crowded room, and in the confine of a car if outside...

Your math is correct, but the concept is not. When comparing plant exposure to CO2 availability (concentration) in different media, it should be based on the same volume of exposure, not mass. It is unfair to compare one unit mass of air that occupies 1000 times more volume than that of...

Your math is wrong. The math is complex, so don’t do the math yourself but use the conversion calculator in this link. https://www.lenntech.com/calculators/ppm/converter-parts-per-million.htm If you pug in 426 ppm for CO2, the calculator will spit out 826 mg/m3. Since 1 m3=1000L, the...

In Post #7 Ian claimed that someone has done a C13 tracing. Whether it is C13 or 14 tracing is no simple task. Glut can take a pathway of naturally degraded into CO2, uptake and thereby incorporate C13 or 14 into plant tissue.

The tracing of atom pathways in biochemistry is very complicated and could cost a lot more than $thousands. The scientist who took lifetime to identify the pathways of Calvin cycle earned a Nobel price. There is no financial justification for Seachem to take up the task, besides, the...

Both circulation (convection) and diffusion distribute gases in air and water, but convection plays a much bigger role. But what we are comparing is how slow plants uptake CO2 in water than in air due to enormous difference in diffusion rate. If plants had gills like fish that can...

ppm by volume or by number of molecules in gases is equivalent due to Avogadro's law that states that "equal volumes of all gases, at the same temperature and pressure, have the same number of molecules." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avogadro's_law The discussion is relevant in that there...

There are many misperceptions on CO2 due to the choice of unit. The atmospheric CO2 concentration is currently 422 ppm by volume. The pre industrial concentrations was 280 ppm by volume. The current atmosphere has roughly 21% O2, 79% N2 and merely 0.0422% of CO2 by volume...

1 ppm CO2 in air is 1 cubic meter of CO2 in 1,000,000 cubic meter of air by volume under STP. It can be converted to 1.94 mg per cubic meter by weight in air using a complex formula.

426 ppm CO2 in air is expressed by volume. 1 to 30 ppm CO2 in water is expressed by weigh. Unit conversion from by volume to by weight is not simple. Parts Per Million (ppm) Converter. My calculation shows that 426 ppm CO2 by volume is equivalent to 826 mg /m3 or 0.826 mg/l by weight in...

Yes, it's difficult to know the right dosage to provide adequate food versus pollution. Yeast is not cheap either. I once dosed it to sugar water to generate CO2 but gave up shortly in favor of CO2 tank. BTW, can sugar water be used in lieu of flour to feed daphnia, both are carbohydrate...

Spirulina powder sounds good. Spirulina is an ingredient of quality fish food, so it’s food for both fry and daphnia. Not sure why yeast, commonly recommended, is no good. I tried baker yeast before and can confirm that it didn’t work. Adult daphnia are too large for newly hatched fry...

Certainly, the best way to feed daphnia is to cultivate green water with strong light. Daphnia is filter feeder that thrives on live yeast, live bacteria (bacterial bloom), live infusoria or live Euglena (green water). But my fry tank has no strong light and it takes time to cultivate live...

I am feeding live daphnia to my newly hatched fish fry, but the daphnia are too large for the fry. So I hope the daphnia can give birth to babies tiny enough for the fish fry to eat. I’m crushing fish flakes to feed the fish fry and wonder whether daphnia will also consume and thereby multiply...

That isn’t the reason why Vals are vulnerable to Glut. All hydrophytes have no stomata or functional stomata in the submerged parts. Those that develop floating or emerged leaves have stomata in the emerged parts...

The new stems acclimate well and send out new leaves. 1 and 3 are definitely Myriophyllum and Alternanthera. Myrio grows fast, already sending out pinkish leaves above water but dropping lower leaves. 2 is not Lobelia as the new leaves are not oval and green, but bright red and petite, so...

I guess you are right. Atlantis has the signature conspicuous vein structure. On second look at 2, it also has conspicuous vein structure somewhat resembling Atlantis, but deep red stems. Could it be another Atlantic grown under different condition or another Ludwigia species. Lobelia...

I guess you are right except for 4 which would not be an aquatic plant. The source is from a reputable aquatic plant farm, and I doubt that it will mix houseplant with aquatic.

I got these unnamed grab bag stems from auction that originated from plant farm in Florida. They are outdoor grown and I have no clue if the foliage is submerged, immersed or semi. I took pics from different angle in a bowl where the 4 stems are under quarantine. Can you guess what they are.

According to Wikepedia, rubra is a marine species. Its the other freshwater Hildenbrandia species. It said that it can tolerate severe desiccation. I just returned a stained flower pots after months of drying and curious to l see if the algae will revive. The freshwater species H...

I have seen demonstration in YouTube you can use cigarette filter in conjunction with superglue to bond rock. The two will react exothermally to form strong bond with good contact, but be careful to avoid getting burnt. I have not tried it myself though as I don’t want to permanently bond...

Wabi Kusa is commonly referred to growing aquatic plants emerged in the west. In Japanese, Wabi’ denotes something aesthetic, imperfectly beautiful and natural. ‘Kusa’ means ‘grass’ or sometimes ‘plant’. Therefore ‘Wabi-kusa’ does not literally mean that they must be aquatic plants, but...

Lava rock make stable rock pile as they are light in weight and have good traction to grip on one another. I use them as foundation to attach epiphytes. I don’t pile dirt on top of rock to root plants but rather hide non epiphytes in net pots hidden behind rock. I prefer hollow out rock to...

If it is indeed Coraline algae, it is a mystery why a rare freshwater form would grow in my dim light, non planted, non dosing tank where no other algae can grow. Coraline algae is loved in a reef tank giving live rock color, but looks dirty staining my heater, glass and ornaments. The stain...

You may be correct. From my research, there is only one species that lives in freshwater. While it is desirable in reef tank, not in my freshwater tank as the stains are out of place and hard to remove.

It started on the surface of a clay pot and spread over onto the heater glass and elsewhere like rashes. These red circular rings are smooth to touch and cannot be rubbed away easily. Are they inorganic or biological in nature. What are they.

Run away CO2 (> 50 ppm) is toxic to and will kill fish, which had happened to me by accident when I was a new user of CO2. So make sure you babysit how your new CO2 regulator is operating closely for a few days before leaving it alone. Maintaining CO2 below 30 ppm is safe to all fish, even...

Why do you have to avoid two 36 inch strip led. Is it because your tank has no central brace, and you want to hang the light on open top. My 125 gal came with glass top, central brace and double 36 inch fluorescent light hood, and I am glad to replace with double 36 inch led strips that are...

No, depending on the type of diffuser, in tank diffuser can be as efficient if not more so than in line diffuser. Do not use any ceramic style diffuser which wastes a lot of energy to overcome the pore resistance. I use the bubbling style in tank diffuser by Tunze Tunze CO2 Diffuser | Coming...

Here are pics of my lfs set up of a vertical garden on top of a planted tank. The set up is rather simple, using a timer to pump tank water to irrigate the garden once daily. The tank is back lighted with changing color, not my taste as I prefer more natural look. Another pic is a mono...

3000 to 4000k has been standard lamp color for centuries since Edison invented incandescent bulbs. It makes human face looks blush, saving make up for ladies (and Trump). 6500k led is not white but blue hue white. White is not a spectrum color but created in our brain by perceiving all...

Natural or not is not subjective based on the eye of beholder, but has been measured in actual sunlight. In a living space, how human face looks like is as important as plants and surrounding. Only in halloween display do we want to see human faces appear ghostly blue...

10000k looks good in aquarium, but too ghostly blue for living space. 2700k is similar to incandescent, too warm light for aquarium, but looks fine for living space. Natural sunlight lamps are typically between 5000 to 6500k.

You don’t want purple grow light for houseplant as you grow houseplant for the natural look, not to appear like in another planet. Most houseplants are low light forest canopy plants, demanding even less light than aquarium plants. I’m able to grow lucky bamboo and pathos in dim room light...

My local fish store has set up a wall garden on top of a planted aquarium. I believe the aquarium and the garden circulation systems are integrated in such a way that water in the aquarium is pumped up to the wall garden and dripped back to the tank. Plants in the wall garden appear to be...

So this plant has been explored for the aquarium hobby, but has not been commercialized. It belongs to the Podostemaceae - Wikipedia Podostemaceae genera of which many species are epiphytes adhere to rock in rapids and waterfalls with suction cups. So it is similar to Bucephalandra, but...

Macarenia clavigera is a species of aquatic plant that is unique to the Caño Cristales River. It is a submerged plant that grows on the riverbed during the dry season when the water level is low and the river is exposed to sunlight. The plant has several distinctive features that allow it to...

True bamboo need full to partial sun, and well drained soil. There are no swamp bamboo, but surprisingly desert bamboo thrive in Sahara. So growing true bamboo in aquarium is impossible. If you want dead bamboo stems in aquarium, their lush green or black color will quickly fade to tan, and...

Are you talking about Lucky bamboo or real bamboo stems. I grow Lucky bamboo and stick it to the glass with suction cups. It grows well with submerged stem and leaves above water.

I tried acetone already. It did not work. Once superglue is set, it hardens up like cement. A sure way to remove glue residue is to use an electric grinder, which is labor intensive. . Its better to glue plants on grey and white rock like limestone or lace rock which blend in the white...

I grow succulent in LECA. I filled LECA into a transparent glass jar with no drain hole. Since I can see where the water level is, I water just enough water to inundate the bottom one inch using a turnkey baster, and only water again when it has completely dried out. It works well with...

I used glut for years at high initial dosage after weekly water change, and it has no effect on Sag subulata. Sag is a bog plant not expected to be sensitive to Glut. Egeria, hornwort, Val’s and all mosses are sensitive, but repeated uses may develop resistant strain if a few survive...

Glut is used widely as a biocide, not herbicide. It has plenty of toxicity test data on aquatic organisms but don’t expect to find any data on higher plants. I use glut for systemic water treatment , not spot treatment as it is much cheaper to spray with peroxide on exposed plants during water...

...EC50 = 0.9 mg/L Bacterial inhibition Sewage microbes IC50 = 25-34 mg/L 96h O. mykiss (Trout hatch rate) IC50 = 1.82 mg/L 96h C. dubia (Daphnia reproduction) IC50 = 4.7 mg/L *EC=Effective concentration; IC=Inhibition concentration; LC=Lethal concentration; NOEC=No observed effect...

Do not use any glut without knowing the concentration as you have no way of calculating the right dosage. I’m sure if you do some search you can discover the concentration from the material safety data sheet. In US, I bought the generic glut Metricide 14 and adjust the dosage based on 2.6 %...

I have a collection of dozens miniature succulents, just not the thorny cactus type. I scrape them in half gallon bowls, and train some into bonsai trees. They receive 6+ hour filtered sunlight on my west facing window, still not enough PAR to retain red on red cultivars. This is in...

I have two 75 gal tanks in continuous use for 30+ years, one 125 gal and 75 gal in continuous use for 20 years, still holding water with no leak. Previously I owned a new 10 gal tank and a used 30 gal tanks that leaked after a couple years. I have no clue if there is a finite life expectancy...

More updated photos. Since sunlight comes from the back, placing taller plants in the back as in aquascaping will shade front plants and needs to be reversed. I’m pleased with the outcome as the scapes are colorful, diverse and require less maintenance than aquascapes — slow growth, no algae...

Do some stem plants have short life expectancy? I grow garden perennials and am aware that some perennials are short live requiring rejuvenation every few years by division or restarting from seeds. I’m asking the question as I’ve experienced decline in vigor in my narrow leaf Ludwigia...

CO2 builds up quickly inside the car to 1000+ ppm if you don’t turn on venting. Outdoor CO2 fluctuates between 385 to 425 seasonally due to photosynthesis and furnace operation.

O2 demand and CO2 release in soil is significant component of climate model, but was missed out in the Biodome experiments in Arizona leading to unsustainable O2 level unsafe for experimenters. I think 3000 ppm is the upper limit of CO2 for safe operation of green houses.

Years ago I calculated aqueous CO2 concentration based on Henry coefficient and 400ppm atmospheric CO2 and came up with less than 1 ppm. The calculation is complicated by unit conversion as unit weight of air is much lighter than water, and Henry coefficient is temperature dependent. Also...

If you aerate your water with an airstone, there is good chance you strip more CO2 out of water than injecting more in. Your fish and bacteria respire and generate CO2 above the atmospheric equilibrium level off photo period without agitation.

Update pics of my succulent scape. It displaces much color, form and textural diversity. I’m also starting a succulent bonsai tree from Jade plant. He is happy now back to his little quarter. He was never bullied but shy away from bigger tank mates.

It's not a goldfish, but a gold carp. Goldfish are mutant, with double tail and crooked spine. Gold carp are natural gold morph carp, similar to koi but without human selective breeding.

Just completed a miniature succulent garden on another bowl adjacent to the nano aquascape bowl in which the paradise fish is popping up color.

Stems have delicate texture and can easily be damaged in the planting process resulting in floating. I use a tweezer and chopstick combo to plant stems directly into the substrate. I pre drill a hole with the chopstick first and then lightly hold the stems with the tweezer and insert into the...

This is not GMO, but environmental intervention. It’s only an idea, with chance of success and unintended consequences unknown. Floaters can bloom and collapse just as easily, and I have personally experienced with certain floaters.

I currently run one 125, three 75 , one 30, one 20 gal tanks, and a handful of small fish bowls. I have plenty of tank space to house big and small fish, and am always breeding and growing out some species. Many betta keepers grow out betta in quart jars and having a gal bowl for a Chinese...

No, they are not the same fish bowls. I still have one paradise fish in one bowl, and a second paradise temporarily relocated to my 75 gal . It is the one in my 75 gal that is unhappy, hiding all day long inside the plants to avoid getting bullied by more aggressive cichlid tank mates. I...

There can’t be more difference to move from aquascape to succulent scape. One need lot of water and the other hardly any. On the hand, there are as many if not more textural and color variance of succulents as aquatic plants. So I try it for the first time on my nano fish bowls. The bowls...

55 million year ago, quantum growth of Azolla cooled the earth from thermal maxima towards the first ice age since the Triassic. Scientists are proposing to use Azolla again to combat global warming. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/can-the-fern-that-cooled-the-planet-do-it-again/

Since they grow fast, don't bother to prune out brown leaves but to remove the whole plants. The remainder will recover with lusher leaves after thinning out and soon fill up the gaps. I have to thin out mine every two weeks in warm months. But in winter, my red root floaters, water...

I have all 3 of your floaters plus Azolla I recently acquired. All floaters grow fast if they are happy. If they are not happy, they turn yellow and ugly. Maintenance is regular thinning, and trashing out the extras. Otherwise, they will grow thick and stamped the bottom to rot.

The Aquaclear style HOBs has a small chance of overflow when the foam block is clogged and popped up . Cartridge style HOBs have no chance of overflow as it has a bypass spillway when the media is clogged. Even air hose can come loose and back siphon. It happened to my sponge filter in my...

There is no fail safe canister because there are many external plumbing (clamps, O ring and connections) that can fail. When any part fail by wear and tear or human error, a canister can turn into a fountain and potentially drain the tank if not discovered early. For fail safe filters...

How can you tell the difference between Crypto wendtii red from undulata. For a long time, I thought I had wendtii, but I’m not sure now as pics of undulata look similar and it is described as belonging to the wendtii family. There is also wendtii tropica that looks similar. I guess unless...

Terrestrial plant roots need oxygen and moisture to thrive. Constantly submerged roots can lead to rot and drainage holes prevent it from happening. LECA provides good oxygenation and drainage, and is great for succulent. But pumice and larva rock provide better nutrient and moisture...

6 hours seem short because the average photo period is between 8 to 10 hours. But if it is 6 hour full intensity light with no CO2 dial down, it's not that short. Dennis Wong suggests turning on CO2 1 to 2 hour before light on and off CO2 1 to 2 hour before light off, but for photo period 6...

6 hour intense lighting is fine. I have seen one poster whose meticulous high tech nature tanks get only 6 hour photo period and he claimed it is a trick to keep algae out of healthy plants. Dennis Wong cited that photosynthesis is most intense in the first 4 hours and diminishes thereafter...

LECA will not sink if fully submerged. It cannot be used as an aquarium substrate. I use LECA to grow house plant, half filled with water. A better alternative is bonsai grade crushed larva rock that will sink. I use it as substrate in my planted shrimp bowl. It has greater porosity than...

The photosynthetic depletion of CO2 in lakes has been documented in many limnology studies, and cited in Walstad book in support of a siesta period in low tech tanks. I can validate it in my window sill planted bowl where pH fluctuates between 7.2 to 8.8 pre and post sunlight period, and with...

No net photosynthesis is technically the same as no photosynthesis, no sugar accumulation, and no net oxygen production. The OP thread asked when is the best photo period for optimal photosynthesis. If ambient light starts the circadian clock, then any night time photo period is a waste...

Photosynthesis will not be activated by ambient light if it does not exceed the plant light compensation point. Indoor ambient light is typically below LCP and this is why artificial light is needed to grow aquarium plants. So aquarium plant circadian clock is artificial, not measurable by...

GTA is high light issue. This is why it is common in outdoor pond. You can eliminate it by dialing down the light, but then you may encounter other algae such as BBA, GDA and GSA that don’t need high light to thrive. I don’t remember ever seeing bba in my window sill bowls and outdoor tubs...

Glut is effective against bba, a form of red algae, but useless against green thread algae. I tried glut a few times and gave up. Physical removal is not too hard, as spirogyra will come off clean in strands, but you have to keep doing it if the fundamental cause is not eliminated.

There are many types of thread algae. If it forms short clusters hugging substrate and hard surfaces, it is clado. If it forms long silky strands covering plants, then it is spirogyra. Both are green filamental algae, the former is branched and the latter straight. Both thrive in high light...

True. Growth and photosynthesis are two separate processes that don’t have to occur concurrently . Photosynthesis makes sugar utilizing CO2, H2O and light. Growth burns sugar energy to make tissue, chlorophyl, hormone, reproductive cells, toxin, etc by utilizing N,P, K and other nutrients...