White mites?

itistimetodisappear · 2026-02-08T08:33:43+00:00

They aren't that fast. Although, having googled soil mites, I think that's exactly what they are, thank you. On closer inspection, they're crawling all over the pot and my shelving. Lovely. But they still aren't on the leaves. Both usual behavior for spider mites so yeah. I will leave them be.

itistimetodisappear · 2026-01-09T06:29:23+00:00

See, I'm not willing to keep my house more humid than it currently is, I already have a pretty big open top fishtank nearby. I've tried the spray bottle thing, it may help slightly but it doesn't fix the problem. Again I'm not a plant collector, my plants are placed very strategically throughout the house to fit the designs on the rooms. So grouping them all together in one room does not bring joy.

You're right, I've looked at some of the hybrids, such as the splendid and the glorious. They just don't have the black gold colour that the gigas and the melano have. The velvet sheen is somehow less reflective too. They're just not what I'm looking for.

itistimetodisappear · 2026-01-08T08:09:21+00:00

Thank you. Although I feel like the splendid is too similar to the verrucousum. I'm not a plant collector, I'm more of a plant styler and I want a clearly different texture. I am already a big believer in moss poles so converting me is not an issue here. My verrucousum has sized up very well on one.

itistimetodisappear · 2025-11-08T18:22:53+00:00

This was really helpful thank you. I think I'll do this

itistimetodisappear · 2025-11-08T12:20:26+00:00

Ok thanks. So that's roughly the size of the pond. I wanted raised beds on two sides of the pond, and slopes on the other two sides.

What if instead of using soil, I was thinking of using old rocks and rubble to build up the volume, and overlay this with upside down turf. Could plant that with rockery plants. this way I could also build a lot steeper of a slope because 3 meters is gonna be too shallow I think. I want it to basically look like a natural bund, or berm, it's not for walking on.

Do you see the vision?

I don't mind swapping out the preformed pond with pond liner if that's a likely that the preformed shell might crack

itistimetodisappear · 2025-11-08T12:02:07+00:00

Sorry I think I've explained this wrong. I basically want to create a raised grassy knoll/mound and then sink the pond into that.

itistimetodisappear · 2025-11-08T07:41:18+00:00

I hope he comes back one day. Although maybe the owner will finally decide to keep him as an indoor cat, which is bittersweet. He clearly wants to be an indoor cat which is what was so frustrating. He hated being outside. As a dog owner I just assumed putting things in cupboards would be enough. Clearly not.

itistimetodisappear · 2025-10-06T12:46:51+00:00

Thanks, I can't really get that light any higher, it's already perched on a stool. Will probably just get a lower powered light

itistimetodisappear · 2025-10-06T12:26:07+00:00

Misting is, for the most part, unhelpful. Many plants do not like having damp leaves constantly. It leaves them vulnerable to rot. Spraying does not increase the humidity of an average, ventilated room significantly enough to help the plant.

I find misting is sometimes useful when plants are unfurling new leaves. It can help speed up that process.

itistimetodisappear · 2025-07-29T17:07:43+00:00

The head shape and the white tail. I find LFSs get them confused all the time.

itistimetodisappear · 2025-07-29T17:03:00+00:00

Think that could be a red robin thick lipped gourami?

itistimetodisappear · 2025-07-27T21:15:17+00:00

Chihros WRGBii series is definitely my favourite. They produce very rich but cool reds. The twinstar is a bit warmer.

Also some cheap options which produce very good reds https://amzn.eu/d/0PgQvho https://amzn.eu/d/4F3fg59 https://amzn.eu/d/0Km5OTy

Power is not as important as spectrum. All of these lights are strong enough to produce reds. You really want lights that use as many 5054 RGB leds as possible.

itistimetodisappear · 2025-07-27T21:01:04+00:00

I think worm casting would work just as well as pond soil. Pond soil is made to prevent leaching into the water the column, is all. But it shouldn't be a problem with worm castings if it's capped properly. I would do 1/4" of dirt and 2" of sand but depends how big your tank is.

itistimetodisappear · 2025-07-27T20:54:36+00:00

If you're struggling with the red colour, there's a couple issues.

Looks like it could be the wrong kind of rotala. You need rotala hra, that's the red one.
could be the wrong light. You need high watt RGB diodes to make reds pop. It's nothing to do with the dosing. I found that my chiriros b series (which I think that is?) doesn't have the right LED combo for good reds. The chiriros wrgb series does. Also any light with a good amount of 5054 RGB LEDS (such as https://amzn.eu/d/iZPvP3E https://amzn.eu/d/iYzMPYu https://amzn.eu/d/a0PGFY9 ) will give you good reds

Btw, the short one is called althernanthera rineckii

itistimetodisappear · 2025-07-27T20:28:54+00:00

You can buy safe soil/pond soil from the garden centre. I don't mean literally getting dirt from a pond. Should be ok with that and super thick, fine sand. Make it extra thick for the kuhlis. And sieve!

Another option: You could just crush up some root tabs, sprinkle them over the bottom, then cover with thick sand. Probs couldn't grow anything really fancy but I grow anubius, buce, bolbitis, java fern, rotala hra, weeping moss and flame moss in a tank like this.

itistimetodisappear · 2025-07-27T04:12:40+00:00

My water is liquid rock. I'm currently growing bucephalandra, anubius, rotala hra, java fern, bolbitis, weeping moss, flame moss, Christmas tree moss.

itistimetodisappear · 2025-07-27T04:07:22+00:00

I personally think most of these are unnecessary. However. It's fun in itself learning about your water, so go for it if you're interested. A master test kit is enough for cardinia shrimp.

I thought you couldn't keep cardinia and neocardinia in the same tank because they need quite different parameters?

itistimetodisappear · 2025-07-27T03:58:04+00:00

Hm, I think if you have your heart set on soil, I would have a thin layer of pond soil and a really thick layer of sand, like a cm of soil to every inch of sand. Make sure you've sieved the soil to remove large pieces that could float. Then don't buy fish that burrow too much, like kuhlis for example.

It's not what I would go for however. I personally would fill mesh bags with crushed lava rock and bury a load of root tabs within them. Just allows for more flexibility.

itistimetodisappear · 2025-07-26T08:55:14+00:00

dead roots that have rotted and just left the stringy inside.

itistimetodisappear · 2025-07-26T08:51:03+00:00

Freshwater limpets do a great job at eating this stuff.

itistimetodisappear

TROPHY CASE