Planted demijohn, help. Please
I’ve planted a demijohn, I tried to follow the walstad method which I leaned heavily on ChatGPT for ratios etc. I know it’s probably not the best source of advice but we are where we are.
The soil is aquarium soil for planted tanks, the sand layer is largely uneven but in places the one inch recommended. I won’t lie getting anything in through the opening in the bottle was a PITA, let alone getting the roots buried in the soil. Looking back I’d have planted before adding the sand but once again we are where we are.
It’s been planted and getting low light for six hours a day for the last month and had a 25% water change (and partially effective clearing of dead leaves) seven days ago.
The crypt has melted all but one leaf and the debris has got murgh around it.
I’ve got millions of questions but the main one is;
If this guy isn’t toast then how do I get in to trim off the bit that’s murgh. It’s about 50cm from neck to deck.
Other questions include;
Would shipping in some shrimps help with water circulation and eating up ‘murgh’?
Is there enough plants in there, maybe some floaters?
Why did I do this?
Will the tannins from the driftwood stabilise so it’s not that weak tea colour all the time.
by Equal_Raspberry
4 Comments
🤣 “Why did I do this?”
Bruhhh because you’re CURIOUS!
Sorry. Just found this sub. This is my place & I didn’t know it.
Maybe don’t ask chat gpt for advice when you could look into decades of research actual humans have done for free.
Crypts just melt but I have a feeling the small opening is seriously limiting the oxygen and gas exchange in the tank. please don’t put shrimp in there.
Firstly, small pest snails only in something this size.
To pull off a minimalist micro no tech aquarium is probably not for a beginner. I could talk for way too long about how and why, but I’ll leave it at – this is starting the hobby or getting into this idea the hard way. I think you’re going to need a bunch more plants.
Only way to know if your crypt is still viable is to wait it out or pull it up and look at the roots. I float my new plants as they acclimate, especially with sensitive melting stuff like crypts. Once I see new roots, I plant.
I think the small opening on the jar may be fine, but I’m only guessing on my intuition. What I’ve learned is the shape of the jar mouth opening- greatly affects how much evaporation you have, which is a major problem with maintaining consistency in such a small volume. A wide mouth bell shape opening evaporates way faster than one that’s shaped more like a fishbowl. You at least have that going for you.
I’ve been building what everyone calls Walstad without knowing it at first, and in my experience tons of plants and just enough light to keep them alive is key.
I think it’s just a poor choice of vessle with limited gas exchange. You could DIY yeast diy co2, that has prevented melt for me while getting things off the ground. Shrimp will die in there, not enough air.