Відео

Looking good now. They were the same size as the shellies now they're much bigger. Still scared of them though

@@aquaticfanaticsuk Be pairing off soon

I've already got baby shellies. The frontosa will take a couple of years still

I know. Every week, I clear the tank to this, and every week, it's covered

@@aquaticfanaticsuk you tried making food from it 👌 boil blend mix with Repashy

I'm like a cat. I can spot baby fry from a mile away but can't see my keys on the coffee table

@aquaticfanaticsuk you sound like the boy !!! Can't find his glasses his phone his bus pass I'm sure he's a vampire rooms constantly in darkness !!!

@MrG.Ivan76 yeah, I can't find any of that stuff. But then 8mm socket I haven't seen in 15 years. I know exactly where in my man draw it is.

@aquaticfanaticsuk the 10mm 12mm !!! Should give you 3 of each really

we used to have a motor factors that sold them separately. what a time to be alive 😂

They have all been removed

Ok

I'm surprised by the amount of interest I'm getting. I'll have to sort some out of everyone

I will, mate. Need to tidy it up a bit first.

@aquaticfanaticsuk give me a shout when its ready mate will bang an order in

@bigfishlad4847 will do, mate

I am, I'll have to order some packaging to list them

@@aquaticfanaticsuk zip lock bags should do the trick

@@aquaticfanaticsuk see if gee b shrimp will add to auction tonight . . .

Let me know if you list 👍

I was going to but won't have time to get it ready. I'll see if I can do some next month

That's literally what I used on my other one

I try to stick with 2-4mm substrate

The tanks I've set up with dirt capped with sand. I've found the sand got big black and grey patches suggesting the production of anaerobic conditions and found the plant roots have struggled in these conditions. I've also found mulm builds on top of the sand far more than it does with gravel. Creating further problems for the sand below while also causing issues with stuff like cyano and algae on the sand bed. I definitely think that the modern LED lights are far too powerful for most planted tanks. I usually turn the blues off if I can and ramp the rest right down to about 30-40%. Even then, I find myself having problems with algae in the top half of the water column at times. I've taken to using a lot of floating plants to combat this. I did find an old T5 driver for sale at a local shop, I was tempted to buy it but when I spoke with the owner it would have cost me more than an LED unit to buy and then I would have had to buy £100 of new bulbs every 6 months with no guarantee of being able to get the bulbs.

Bloody headache one at the moment 😂

Hope so, it'll be nice to have something breeding for me

The gravel isn't the problem. It was a surplus of unnecessary nutrients in the soil. I now use milder soil with gravel and no issue. Also, you seem to misunderstand that the issue was in the substrate, not the water. So, how do you propose to solve the redox issue that sand causes?

No, this is discussing the topics covered in Diana Walstad’s book. So, not an opinion at all.

I don't know what happened. It seemed UA-cam didn't seem to notify anyone about this as it's taken a while to start picking up views.

Getting there, aren't they, mate? My favourite is the second in the bottom left at the beginning, but he's not putting any weight on. Reminds me, I should worm them

@@aquaticfanaticsuk could be just genetics. I have a few like that. . It may surprise you and go through a growth spurt

@stubbsaquatics6080 Yeah, let's hope so. Early days yet. They're definitely going in a pond of some sort come spring. They've been getting tons of food, so hopefully be in great condition by then

@@aquaticfanaticsuk looking forward to seeing them. Did I tell you I got a new line of goldfish?

@@stubbsaquatics6080 I heard you say you've got a new line. I'm still waiting to find out what they are

I got shrimp! You want me to get more?

I'm really getting into Rainbows. I've kept and bred dwarf rainbows in the past, but the bug has really bit me lately. Growing them out thiugh is not for the inpatient.

Cheers, mate. I'm fascinated to know how a tank like this will work

You've got to be local to use the words boss and belter?

@@aquaticfanaticsuk haha

@@aquaticfanaticsuk probably mate yeah

Keith, there is nothing I can teach you but but but but but lol. Get a couple of Assassin Snails. They will decimate all the other snails, then the pair will attack each other until one remains and it will starve to death. I used them in the past. Now I have 4 Zebra Loaches I see them eating the baby snails from the ones that came highjacked on my plants. Assassins will 100% deal with your snail issue. You know this anyway.

@Lee.Willcox I did have assassin snails and have a couple of loaches in the. I see a lot of empty snail shells.

I'll check it out mate!

Thank you! I definitely want to work on making my tanks a little more aesthetically pleasing.

That's a good idea. I shall do that. I think it would give the tank a new lease of life.

There'd be less plant matter to uptake nutrients in theory. But I've had to do it a few times because my val has gone gang busters, and I've never really noticed a significant difference. I've always put this down to my floating plants doing the heavy lifting in my tank. I literally remove a couple of litre jugs of the stuff a week.

That liquid mulm is exactly what I was trying to define when I kept saying aquatic sediment. Everything in the tank, the soil, plant leaves, and fish food should break down into this mulm over time. It's interesting you mention the repotting thing. I once compared a mature dirted tank to a bonsai pot and said you should consider repotting similar to a bonsai. Reset the soil, give roots a prune, etc, and was told they were not comparable. But I've had dirted tanks basically root bound before where the roots had filled the bottom of the tank. I've also had the opposite. In my third or fourth dirted tank, I used the wrong dirt. It was the fertilised miracle gro, and the roots never grew into it. The plants never did well, and when I broke the tank down, the roots were in the cap but had all burnt off as soon as they touched the soil. In my next tank, I used a really mild soil and got much better growth, especially from the crypts.

@@aquaticfanaticsuk i have been thinking a long time that my depleted dirt tanks are like pot plants. Pot plants eventually need repotting and we are using similar techniques (same soils and potting mixes). Not that I have much experience in pot plants, very little to be honest. But I have seen a mature pot plant and when it came out of the pot there was almost no soil left. It was just all roots with a bit of dirt. I didn’t mention but your comments about ‘balance’ and algae is exactly what I am dealing with right now. Every tank has a balance and when that gets upset bad things tend to happen. In the first few weeks of a dirted tank balance can take a while to happen. Patience is key - riding out the storm. Biofilm. Algae. Hard to avoid them. You just have to trust that over time things will balance themselves out as the plants establish themselves.

@@thesolaraquarium you've just given me an idea for another video!

Cheers, Paul! I really like the look of the larger of the 2 tanks with the big plants at the back and the small crypts in front. It gives the tank a clear definition that I think I'm going to try to do a lot more in the future!

If I'm honest, a lot of the stuff I talk about is stuff I learned from the likes of George Farmer's forum from the harcore planted tank guys who ran Walstad tanks and shared their experiences. A lot of them seemed to have moved on to other types of plants now. But I still enjoy tinkering with dirted tanks. People seem to really enjoy me talking about the topic, so I just keep on going

Mad you say that, as I was picking the song I thought that would be a nice piece to learn to play