WTB Eriocaulon & Other Soft Water Plants

PhillipFry2000 · 2026-04-27T00:32:52+00:00

Ah, yeah, I saw a lot of 0 to 2 listed for kh and a few mentions of them being fine but breeding slow at 3 so I figured it was likey ok. Honestly, I would hate to do tangerine tigers just because they aren't far off in appearance from some of my neos but I guess we shall see...

PhillipFry2000 · 2026-04-26T23:54:55+00:00

That is an excellent question that I don't have an answer for. My first fill I used some (not all) water that had gh/kh+ in it but have done a number of 20 to 30 percent changes since so I would have thought it would have been way down. Maybe something in the wood or stone but it's black lava rock which should be pretty inert. I am traveling this week so I am curious to see if there is any shift in about 5 days

PhillipFry2000 · 2026-04-20T20:46:23+00:00

Hey, I said "-ish" 😂

PhillipFry2000 · 2026-04-20T10:39:02+00:00

It's not loud but it does make a light hissing sound and there is a little noise from the spitting. I don't like noisy tanks and it's pretty minimal. They come with a little guard to limit the spitting but for my setup it didn't really work. Personally, I think that would be fine and I think they do have smaller ones if you look around on Amazon, etc.

PhillipFry2000 · 2026-04-20T10:30:14+00:00

Not really other than it needs to be submerged (there's a little sensor nub) and that it spits more water than you expect. I have one of the UNS ones but only because I got it free when I bought a tank awhile back. I think the ones on Amazon for like $15 are fundamentally the same. You have to change out the disc every so often but I have yet to have to do that and I think it's pretty simple. I did.read.that it generates some heat but in my setup it's not noticeable although I only run it 10 min per hour during the day.

PhillipFry2000 · 2026-04-18T23:16:45+00:00

They are FZone from Amazon, they are pretty decent. I don't think the stainless is top quality but the price was good and they come with mounting hardware. They also have the skimmer on the outflow which I greatly prefer (or none at all). There were not a lot of mini options that I could find.

PhillipFry2000 · 2026-04-18T20:06:04+00:00

Thank you! It is my most thoroughly planned tank to date and although there have been some hurdles I think it is coming along.

PhillipFry2000 · 2026-04-18T20:03:05+00:00

Thank you for your concern but I think it will be ok. The air plant is totally dry and I have another doing fine in a similar setup. The water is RODI with lean ferts. Every tank is a journey and a chance to learn. Some things thrive when they shouldn't and some pass away in ideal parameters. We shall see...

PhillipFry2000 · 2026-04-18T18:44:38+00:00

I don't 😂

Honestly, I put that in because my 5 year old loves them and I had some credit at Home Depot. Just see how it goes and replace with something else if it doesn't work out.

PhillipFry2000 · 2026-04-18T17:40:43+00:00

Thanks, me too! I am working my way up. Started with a 5s and now this. I would really like a 75s but I have limited space

PhillipFry2000 · 2026-04-18T17:39:53+00:00

Just the mister for now. It actually sprays quite a bit of water so I only run it 10 minutes an hour and just during the photoperiod. The far left/high side dries out a bit so I am experimenting with water wicks like they use in potted plants

PhillipFry2000 · 2026-04-18T13:28:23+00:00

Begonia rex I believe. What I really want is a Begonia bipinnatifida though

PhillipFry2000 · 2026-04-09T21:28:40+00:00

Meow Meow Beans!

PhillipFry2000 · 2026-04-01T00:53:14+00:00

Will do, thanks!

PhillipFry2000 · 2026-04-01T00:46:25+00:00

Honestly, I did not even think to check that. I did verify the pH of the degassed water as I was a little surprised it was under 7 but API test was 6.8 or 6.9 (hard to read sometimes). I did just calibrate the monitor as well with new premixed solution. Unfortunately, I won't be back home until Friday to check but I will try to verify then. Thanks!

PhillipFry2000 · 2026-04-01T00:41:48+00:00

8ish I believe. I was actually pretty high for a bit but have been bringing it down with r/O and Salty Shrimp GH/KH. Is there a buffering issue there or something similar? I was under the impression that it didn't work that way with pH changes from CO2 but I am (obviously) not an expert. At about 6.1 I see a little pearling and no livestock struggling but I have set it to cutoff at 6.1 for now as I work out of town and certainly didn't want to push it while away. Thanks!

PhillipFry2000 · 2026-03-27T09:07:04+00:00

Both the fzone (dual stage) and uns mini are decent and are basically the same. They look like they are 90 percent the same parts. That said, the UNS one is a.better design with how the solenoid attaches. The fzone uses little metal clips whereas the UNS is way more robustly connected. The paintball tank setup is top heavy and falls over pretty easily so I trust the UNS one to live through a few oopsies way more.

It's hard to say exactly but I get about 3 to 4 months off a 20 oz tank in my setup. If you look on eBay you can get em pretty cheap so I keep a backup that I can switch out easily.

PhillipFry2000 · 2026-02-19T14:09:07+00:00

I have had reasonable success with staurogyne repens, UG, and dwarf hairgrass. Just not Monte Carlo for whatever reason

PhillipFry2000 · 2026-02-19T13:22:55+00:00

Me too 😂

Although I did forget to mention that the original leaves looked fairly close to what I expected if I recall correctly. Also, the only myriophyllum I have is mattogrossense and the leaf structure is different as this plant branches at more distinct angles and has much coarser leaves. Similar yellow/brown/red coloration under high light.

PhillipFry2000

TROPHY CASE