Vishaquatics
- #1
September 2020 News:
September has been another busy, yet productive month on the farm.
LED Tub:
I'm now prepping for the cold fall and winter seasons, though it still feels like it's summer in terms of the weather. I've been working to make everything rain and water proof, and I recently constructed a new stand for my lighting. The entire lighting stand is enclosed with wood (and I'll be adding a protective plastic layer soon) so that the electrical components are well protected from any potential water droplets that may enter from rain.
Greenhouse:
The greenhouse frame is completely finished and has been put in place over my mother tub. Since the weather is still warm, I have not added the greenhouse poly wrap yet, but will probably do so in October. I've added small sections of soil to start cultivating emersed ludwigia and bacopa as my mother plant stock. It's been growing nicely and forming a dense carpet. Other plants such as limnophila heterophylla and shinnersia rivularis are growing much better in sunlight than in my LED tub. I may have to start cultivating a few types of species in the sunlight again, but I have not completely decided yet.
New Experimental Scape:
Many people have issues dosing heavy water column fertilizers, as it stunts their plants and creates difficult growing conditions. Other people can lard on the ferts just fine without any issues. A recent video by the Aquatic Gardener's Association revealed that dosing heavy with a higher KH will probably lead to issues with sensitive species in the Lythraceae family (Rotala, ammania, cuphea, etc).
The way to work around not dosing the water column is to make a rich substrate. I experimented with making my own mineralized topsoil mix and it has turned out much better than expected. I sifted out topsoil into a fine powder, and then added natural clay that I dug up from my backyard. I suspect the clay is rich in trace minerals since there are veins of red and orange, among other colors in the clay. After soaking and drying the topsoil/clay mixture multiple times, I finally created a super nice substrate.
I then used about 1" of this mineralized soil substrate in a small 4.1g nano tank and capped it with old aquasoil that has been exhausted of nutrients. I used rotala rotundifolia ADA, rotala macrandra, monte carlo, and staurogyne repens.
9/10/2020:
9/27/2020:
I am absolutely blown away by how well this technique works. Without any water column dosing, I've been able to pack the entire tank with plants creeping . I will say that the leaves and stems don't feel as robust/thick, but the color and form is very impressive. The physical size of the rotala macrandra is some of the biggest I've grown. Some of the stems have a diameter of nearly 3". Staurogyne repens has thrown out sideshoots like crazy, though it started as a small emersed trimming just two and a half weeks ago. Not a single stem is stunted. I haven't trimmed the tank once yet. I've also had 0 algae issues from the soil because of the mineralization process and high clay content. Again, no ferts were added at all during this time. I'm quite impressed.
CO2art Affiliation:
Toward the end of this month, I became an official affiliate of CO2art. I've personally had a lot of success with their regulators and I recommend that all of my customers looking for CO2 systems purchase their equipment from CO2art. If you're interested in making a purchase, feel free to use my 10% off coupon code: VISHAQUATICS
Referal Link: Aquarium CO2 System Specialists | Diffusers, Regulator CO2 systems
FULL DISCLOSURE: To be fully upfront and transparent with the community, making a purchase using my referral link and using my coupon code will allow me to make a small commission off of your purchase (at no extra cost to the buyer).
September has been another busy, yet productive month on the farm.
LED Tub:
I'm now prepping for the cold fall and winter seasons, though it still feels like it's summer in terms of the weather. I've been working to make everything rain and water proof, and I recently constructed a new stand for my lighting. The entire lighting stand is enclosed with wood (and I'll be adding a protective plastic layer soon) so that the electrical components are well protected from any potential water droplets that may enter from rain.
Greenhouse:
The greenhouse frame is completely finished and has been put in place over my mother tub. Since the weather is still warm, I have not added the greenhouse poly wrap yet, but will probably do so in October. I've added small sections of soil to start cultivating emersed ludwigia and bacopa as my mother plant stock. It's been growing nicely and forming a dense carpet. Other plants such as limnophila heterophylla and shinnersia rivularis are growing much better in sunlight than in my LED tub. I may have to start cultivating a few types of species in the sunlight again, but I have not completely decided yet.
New Experimental Scape:
Many people have issues dosing heavy water column fertilizers, as it stunts their plants and creates difficult growing conditions. Other people can lard on the ferts just fine without any issues. A recent video by the Aquatic Gardener's Association revealed that dosing heavy with a higher KH will probably lead to issues with sensitive species in the Lythraceae family (Rotala, ammania, cuphea, etc).
The way to work around not dosing the water column is to make a rich substrate. I experimented with making my own mineralized topsoil mix and it has turned out much better than expected. I sifted out topsoil into a fine powder, and then added natural clay that I dug up from my backyard. I suspect the clay is rich in trace minerals since there are veins of red and orange, among other colors in the clay. After soaking and drying the topsoil/clay mixture multiple times, I finally created a super nice substrate.
I then used about 1" of this mineralized soil substrate in a small 4.1g nano tank and capped it with old aquasoil that has been exhausted of nutrients. I used rotala rotundifolia ADA, rotala macrandra, monte carlo, and staurogyne repens.
9/10/2020:
9/27/2020:
I am absolutely blown away by how well this technique works. Without any water column dosing, I've been able to pack the entire tank with plants creeping . I will say that the leaves and stems don't feel as robust/thick, but the color and form is very impressive. The physical size of the rotala macrandra is some of the biggest I've grown. Some of the stems have a diameter of nearly 3". Staurogyne repens has thrown out sideshoots like crazy, though it started as a small emersed trimming just two and a half weeks ago. Not a single stem is stunted. I haven't trimmed the tank once yet. I've also had 0 algae issues from the soil because of the mineralization process and high clay content. Again, no ferts were added at all during this time. I'm quite impressed.
CO2art Affiliation:
Toward the end of this month, I became an official affiliate of CO2art. I've personally had a lot of success with their regulators and I recommend that all of my customers looking for CO2 systems purchase their equipment from CO2art. If you're interested in making a purchase, feel free to use my 10% off coupon code: VISHAQUATICS
Referal Link: Aquarium CO2 System Specialists | Diffusers, Regulator CO2 systems
FULL DISCLOSURE: To be fully upfront and transparent with the community, making a purchase using my referral link and using my coupon code will allow me to make a small commission off of your purchase (at no extra cost to the buyer).