any film would be fine, even those blackout film for windows

aquarium ones are usually thicker and softer, no much care needed,
most gives a lot mishandling leeway, but expensive
windows film its cheaper, you can buy a lot, if fail try again
but you need to be gentle with it, cause if folded line will appear

if you are looking for blackout, generally all are the same after 5-6 days of drying period

Can someone identify this moss please. Thanks! Sorry for the blurred image..i had to crop it down to size




Attached thumbnail(s)

ya
i agree soil is the most messy part
like i m asking for trouble haha..
this is making me nervous actually
i tinkered with it b4
& caused an algae bloom

but i got itchy hands unfortunately
wana try the cheap method 1st haha
i like to experiment & try things actually
thats partt of the fun for me
i read feedback that the real soil can last a long time
compared to artificial aquasoil need replacement after 1yr
actually can insert fert tabs if need further enrichment
i plan to make my own tabs from osmocote fertiliser
for me a bit here & there
adds up a lot
this is not a cheap hobby ayoo

btw were u mentioning about ro system last time ?
just to share
i just bought a cheap vontron
the tds is only 1
compared to tesco ro is 9

glad to know someone here with 1st hand knowledge
for soil capping
can i use the existing 2mm aquasoil ?
or does fine gravel mean fine sand ?
my worry is the soil escaping or slowly leaking
maybe i will go for 1.5" soil
give the plants more nutrition

i did further reading
it seems some people have used red soil & loam
& various other types soil
the trick is to avoid too much organics
but can be reduced
as u described previously by sifting
will certainly not do some baking
i think i wont dare use the oven for food after that
hahaha

as for clay
i got bentonite
maybe will mix a bit
as i tested it on the water directly
really helped the water clarity
& the shrimps seem ok too

yr 2nd foto
i guess the result speaks for itself
the plants do look thick & plush
do u use co2 or add any npk ?

this look like mini pelia to me.

i think you are putting a bit too much of effort on the DIY soil. which i don't think you should do this.
unless you are absolutely sure what you are doing, otherwise not suggested as you wont know where gone wrong if things didnt turn out to be good.
like others said, too many variable in a planted tank may cause you trouble and you may not be able to find out what's the real issue if you keep creating issues without know which are the real issues.
ferts those things you can still change and then observe, but soil? you going to rescape every time when it fails?

just not worth the hassle.
by the way ADA Amazonia soils can last very very very long. Easily 5 years in the same tank.

On the RO water, no need to be so particular about all those brands and what not, if you need only in small quantity, buy those bottled ones, just buy a bottle and test it first before getting in bulk, anything below 10 TDS is good enough. if you need in big volume, getting a RO water kit is much sustainable way.

I think you are focusing on the unnecessary things.

lastly, why do you need RO water in a planted tank? If for shrimp tank, then yes, understandable. but generally speaking, aquatic plants won't thrive in a RO water tank.

how's your dosing regime going bro?
I am using the Seachem recommended dose and don't really have any algae issue.
I now dose almost everything, except for Seachem Advance which i don't think it is necessary.

By the way, why is one in one macro fert is not as good as individual dosing? i start getting a bit lazy to dose separately ady. might even consider dosing the 2hr aquarist all-in-one fert once my existing ferts finished. lol.

Don't mix anything. Keep it simple.

Back then, no CO2 & no ferts. Right now I dose ferts because phosphate somehow low or limited.

I have few extra stem plants after trim that I don't want to throw away. So, here it is mini planted aquarium using oat container. Using "free peat" brand organic soil. 😁 It is so simple, there is no need to mix with anything.


For Flourish, I dose using recommended dosage two times a week. For macro, I use Aquaforest AF Macro, dosing everyday except Sunday. In one of my tank, I need to double the dosage for macro because the plant behaved like phosphate is limited especially bacopa caroliniana growth are slow. After two weeks using this dosing regime, I can see new & bigger new leaves on bacopa caroliniana.

In my tank that I killed most plants in it after bleach dip earlier this year, I'm having problem getting new plant growing roots. I don't know what's wrong. I already add root tabs. The stem plants are growing though, just problem with roots not developing. The Ludwigia sp. 'Dark Orange' are not healthy though where old leaves damaged either partial melting becauae in new environment or necrosis. The new leaves show sign of iron deficiency; light green with dark vein. Both of my tanks is in same dosing regime except in this problematic tank, single dosage for macro. Let's give this tank a couple of more weeks if it can recover.

Not good in a way you cannot tune it. For example, nitrate is high but phosphate is low. The best way to deal with nitrate in this case is to increase phosphate. With all in one, you increase everything. I use all in one because buying individually are too much for me. 😁

This post has been edited by kizwan: Mar 6 2021, 09:34 AM

oh
right now i have an existing shrimp tank
so i m using the ro for them

oh tx for the clarification on the ada soil
seems someone claim its not lasting

as i m into gardening
i wanna do water gardening this time hahaa..
this new tank will be a planted one
once stabilised
i will see if it can be adapted for fish / crustacean

since i m just starting into this aqua thing
i m very curious to try different things
ya
the danger is there
but if i dont try now
i think after settling into this hobby
i will b too lazy to try new things later

the more i do my research
the more confident i feel i can handle it

1 of the videos i stumbled on
he did some comparison of the soils



This post has been edited by brapa?: Mar 6 2021, 11:13 PM

ayo
next time got xtra plants
can throw my way

wanna ask ..
is it advisable to do slope with earth ?
will it b too soft to stand ?

I think standard slope like lower in the front & higher in the back, I think it is doable as long as you don't have any fish that like to dig into the soil.

Have you read this yet?
https://barrreport.com/threads/earth-worm-c...ts-how-to.5533/

This post has been edited by kizwan: Mar 7 2021, 04:04 PM

havent seen this b4
tx for sharing
very detailed & food for thought

thats what i'm afraid of
washing & cooking haha..
ayoyo
also
wont this kill off the beneficial bacteria
within the worm casting ?
or other enzyme or nutrients
its supposed to b a 'living' nutrient


btw
referring to post 4048
the guy said wetting & drying to remineralise
is no more needed as its an old concept
it was in 1 of his videos
will need to do more reading up on this ..

Thanks man!

I've never tried worm casting before, so I can't comment but usually there's more than one option to prepare the substrate. Like dirt (organic soil), when I first learned about it, you need to bake it, you need to add clay to it but when I explore further, actually I don't need to do all that. That's what works for them, so they share it. Try google more, see if there's other people that use worm casting without complex step to prepare them. The link to a website that I post before, doesn't say anything about preparing them.

BTW, I bought cheap root tabs like RM15 for 30 (+10 free = 40) root tabs from Shopee. Inside the capsules, it's looks like osmocote.



This post has been edited by kizwan: Mar 8 2021, 01:44 PM

ayoh
all this research & reading text
making me dizzy
i think will play with my shrimps
for time being

yah ah..
looks like osmocote
is the capsule necessary ?
mayb easier to insert into soil
maybe u can source for the capsules
& insert the osmocote ourself
save some $$
but maybe not worth the time
many things sold can diy actually
but mark up when sellers package nicely

i bought the soy hulls tehoice recommend
frm feedstock supplieer
1 big bag only rm5
so happy
but my shrimps dang choosy
eat a bit then ciao

just started aquarium few days ago. before putting fish inside, just want to know, beside anti chlorine, what else i need to do with the water?

Is this unbranded fert any good?

Just normal fish tank, not plant tank right?
Normally you can buy some cheap fish and try, once you start feeding fish food, the tank bacteria will start growing. (could took 2week to month)
A good tank able cycle Ammonia, Nitrate, Nitride by it own... Market do had tester for it

but if just normal fish tank, nothing need to worry. Chlorine will auto gone after few day if you let the pump cycle....

how much?

BB starter. what type of filter u using? no soil/sand?

Sorry sir its sold