[Matt69]

Not going to debate it to death in @Greggz thread, but there's a certain way to do it so that doesn't happen. If your AS turns to mud than you broke the granules.

If I can I will put together a video to show the way it's done.

I’m just providing my experience, your the one debating


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[Greggz]

 

[Greggz]

Well started off real careful.......then just dumped in the last four bags.

I would say no worse than when I added the BDBS.....filters running.....already starting to clear just a bit.

Hope to be planting by about 7:00 or so.

 

[Matt69]

Greggz 120G Rainbow Fish Tank (Part Deux Aqua Soil 3-15)

Looks good,
I can still see fish


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[DennisSingh]

I just wanted to add my tips advice on new soil. Take or leave it. Beginning wc is ur best friend. U may still get algae. But like ada says once plants are rooted and established u will get kush moments. With landen I have no experience except chatting with ppl. Buffer seems to be 5.5 with little leach. Despite new soil or not water changes are great. If you get algae push through it. But also hort maintenance like daily removal tackling it from the start will go longs way. Keep attacking it. Full stock plants in tank as well some fastest growing plants, I'd say u dont have to dose at all for a bit. Dont kill any fish they purty.

 

[Greggz]

I just wanted to add my tips advice on new soil.

Hey Dennis good to see you here....been following your musings in your thread.

And yes, any and all advice is welcome. Going to be taking it day by day for now.

 

[vvDO]

Well started off real careful.......then just dumped in the last four bags.

I would say no worse than when I added the BDBS.....filters running.....already starting to clear just a bit.

Hope to be planting by about 7:00 or so.

Did you change water after adding soil?

 

[Greggz]

Did you change water after adding soil?

Yep......about 50%.

 

[Greggz]

So here we are as of just a few minutes ago. Plants are twisted up from being in the dark all day. Trimmed them all back pretty hard creating a lot of room between species and room to grow. A couple days reaching for the light should straighten them out.

It sure is a lot easier pulling them out than putting them back in. Tested ammonia again and nothing really registering yet.

Feel confident things should be fine over night. Will take reading again in the morning and see where things are at.

All in all, everything went more smoothly than I anticipated. Fish seem fine and doing well.

 

[Grobbins48]

Nice work today Gregg! Looking forward to this new journey and all it has to offer!

 

[Immortal1]

Great work Gregg! Think it's finally time for you ta have a scotch

 

[Greggz]

Great work Gregg! Think it's finally time for you ta have a scotch

LOL I am literally getting up to walk over and pour one!!:grin2:

 

[burr740]

Well that was painless!

When the balsamica gets bigger you should put it behind the log instead of kimberly, or some other green. The log will stand out better especially as it darkens up. That is if you want the log to stand out

Cant wait to see how it goes and what sort of differences you notice in plant growth. It was cool of you to share the transition. This will be good info for a lot of folks down the road, and not only that, we could all use some entertainment right now. I know I enjoyed seeing it

 

[Greggz]

Well that was painless!

When the balsamica gets bigger you should put it behind the log instead of kimberly, or some other green. The log will stand out better especially as it darkens up. That is if you want the log to stand out

Cant wait to see how it goes and what sort of differences you notice in plant growth. It was cool of you to share the transition. This will be good info for a lot of folks down the road, and not only that, we could all use some entertainment right now. I know I enjoyed seeing it

Yeah in the scheme of things, it was pretty painless. But you know, I have been down this type of road before, and a tank you can't see through doesn't worry me too much.......it always clears eventually.

Filters were running all day.....should have decent BB.........fish stayed in the tank......so for sure so far so good. And I have to say, the tactile feel of planting in the Landen is very good. I was happy about that.

I could see the Balsamica back there, and I am all ears on plant placement. Part of this change is to introduce some new species and change things up a bit. I just need to get a handle on things first, and I want to see how the current plants react. But when the time comes, I will probably be picking your brain a bit more......and getting some new plants too. Obviously I am all in on upping my game......at least that is the idea!:grin2:

And yeah, the entertainment value wasn't lost on me. It was a welcome distraction, and turns out I will have plenty of time on my hands to monitor things closely.

 

[vijay_06]

Wow! All this in one day and without a hitch! Great work! Looking forward to seeing how this evolves and hearing your perspective on soil.


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[MD500_Pilot]

So here we are as of just a few minutes ago. Plants are twisted up from being in the dark all day. Trimmed them all back pretty hard creating a lot of room between species and room to grow. A couple days reaching for the light should straighten them out.

It sure is a lot easier pulling them out than putting them back in. Tested ammonia again and nothing really registering yet.

Feel confident things should be fine over night. Will take reading again in the morning and see where things are at.

All in all, everything went more smoothly than I anticipated. Fish seem fine and doing well.

This looks amazing!!!

 

[Matt69]

This looks amazing!!!

Hopefully we get a new video soon


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[Immortal1]

Good morning Gregg. I know you are already checking on the tank :nerd:

 

[Greggz]

Good morning Gregg. I know you are already checking on the tank :nerd:

Yep, just went over a few minutes ago.

Here is where we stand. Fish look great, no issues at all. Ammonia barely registering, looks like between 0.25 an 0.5 so far. Will keep testing as the day goes on and see where it goes.

But more interesting is pH. Most mornings it's about 6.7 to 6.8 after gassing off some overnight. This morning it is at 6.05. I knew the soil would eat up KH and lower pH, but had no idea how much.

So I am beginning to think that dialing in CO2 will be tricky. Might have to lose the controller for a while and rely more on flow meter.

Or do I add more carbonate (K2CO3) to raise pH of RO water?

Honesty I am just not sure what is best as I sit here this morning. Anyone with experience with RO water and active substrate would love to hear from you.

 

[Grobbins48]

Yep, just went over a few minutes ago.

Here is where we stand. Fish look great, no issues at all. Ammonia barely registering, looks like between 0.25 an 0.5 so far. Will keep testing as the day goes on and see where it goes.

But more interesting is pH. Most mornings it's about 6.7 to 6.8 after gassing off some overnight. This morning it is at 6.05. I knew the soil would eat up KH and lower pH, but had no idea how much.

So I am beginning to think that dialing in CO2 will be tricky. Might have to lose the controller for a while and rely more on flow meter.

Or do I add more carbonate (K2CO3) to raise pH of RO water?

Honesty I am just not sure what is best as I sit here this morning. Anyone with experience with RO water and active substrate would love to hear from you.

The pH controller is exactly what I was wondering about- I was figuring that you may need to ditch it with the active substrate. It is a good thing you have that flow meter. How often were you pinging the controller, meaning did you have your CO2 flow above what was needed (this is what I do), or were you pretty solid all day long?