2.5 Gallon "Little Mountain" *11-26*

[clwatkins10]

light-27 watt home depot
substrate- mud with sand on top
flora-hc and a. nana so far
hardscape- oak twig and lava rock

i boiled the mud to sterilize it and i also boiled the twig
i want this to be mainly diy
i thought about making it rimless but i have cats! (they would drink the water)
hopefully the mud helps the plants grow better!

[clwatkins10]

oh, and yes that is a wendys cup

[Viettxboii]

Nice, where is the "mud" from?

[clwatkins10]

my back yard, its really like a soft clay
its from a place where i knew there were no chemicals, so its safe

[clwatkins10]

update

and my anubias garden

[CobraGuppy]

that hc sure is spreading fast. It hasn't even been a month yet lol.

In your anubias garden, are the stones laid flat side by side or do they form some sort of wall. I cant tell but it looks like the back part of the tank is raised xD

[ColeMan]

Originally Posted by clwatkins10

its from a place where i knew there were no chemicals, so its safe

how did you come to this conclusion, if you don't mind me asking?
Have you any other plans for enriching your soil, or is this is?

I would be particularly concerned with arsenic (among others), because of its propensity to linger in soil for decades at a time and common use in treating lumber. Even at low levels it can greatly hinder plant/animal growth, and at higher levels is, obviously, toxic.

[Sticky230]

Originally Posted by ColeMan

how did you come to this conclusion, if you don't mind me asking?
Have you any other plans for enriching your soil, or is this is?

I would be particularly concerned with arsenic (among others), because of its propensity to linger in soil for decades at a time and common use in treating lumber. Even at low levels it can greatly hinder plant/animal growth, and at higher levels is, obviously, toxic.

how's the water taste?

i like the tank.

[clwatkins10]

Originally Posted by CobraGuppy

that hc sure is spreading fast. It hasn't even been a month yet lol.

In your anubias garden, are the stones laid flat side by side or do they form some sort of wall. I cant tell but it looks like the back part of the tank is raised xD

it is a wall, i couldnt get a good pic level with the tank because of the light, so i looked down on it, the wall is about 1.5 - 2 inches tall

[clwatkins10]

Originally Posted by ColeMan

how did you come to this conclusion, if you don't mind me asking?
Have you any other plans for enriching your soil, or is this is?

I would be particularly concerned with arsenic (among others), because of its propensity to linger in soil for decades at a time and common use in treating lumber. Even at low levels it can greatly hinder plant/animal growth, and at higher levels is, obviously, toxic.

well, im not sure about arsenic but the mud is from a hole that i had to dig and it was about 3 feet under, in at least 10 years, the yard hasnt been fertilized or sprayed for weeds and is far from the actual house, so there has been no lumber near it in my knowledge, and like i said, this is an experiment, and only a 2.5 gallon, I do not plan on changing the sub anytime soon, although, i might after a while when i get bored with it, change to flourite, but i probably wont anytime soon

[clwatkins10]

update:


and my anubias garden was changed to my 20 gal tank which now has eco complete:

[clwatkins10]

wow, i just realized how much the hc has grown, heres some pics for comparison:
first set up:

now:

i took out the twig because it started to get mold.

[Austinv]

that is way to much growth for 1 month! im impressed.

[innerchi89]

did you seperate the HC and plante them far away, then it grows into each other?

[clwatkins10]

Originally Posted by innerchi89

did you seperate the HC and plante them far away, then it grows into each other?

i did a little bit, some of the hc was longer strands and you cant see them in the first picture because the sand is covering part of them but it grew out from under the sand