first attempt on soil substrate

[Dreamwalkz]

Tank: 60cm x 28cm H x 23cm w
Material: brown river rocks from GC / river sand
substrate: cocopeat+soil

Flora:
Lobelia cardinalis "Dwarf"
Hygrophila polysperma "Rosanervig"
Hygrophila corymbosa "compact"
Lagenandra thwaitesii
Elatine triandra(app)
Marsilea crenata
Hydrocotyle sibthorpioides
Cryptocoryne parva
Cryptocoryne wendtii "mioya"
bucephlandra skeleton king black
becephlandra kir royale
bucephlandra Catherine green purple
salvinia natans

Equipment: UP twin cooling fan
Light: UP Z series pro LED plant light

Day 1

[Henlek]

Hi! I also bought the same rocks you have in there from GC, i like the colour, something different from the regular grey. Can I know what filtration you are using as I thought it's rare to have to use an air stone. Is there a reason why you choose to put it in there?

[Dreamwalkz]

i don't plan on using any filter. the airstone is to create some flow and and try to bring down the temp faster because it was at 30degrees at that point. now with the fan its 25-27 degrees.

[Henlek]

Ah I see, the natural way. Haven't tried this Walstad concept before, thinking that it can be challenging to find the right balance in the water. Maybe you can add a mini powerhead to improve circulation. Wish you success!

[Dreamwalkz]

thanks. i shall update again on the progress

[kohanson]

Nice list of plants. Will you be adding fishes or shrimps? Without a filter, I believe you will be doing more frequent water change?

[Dreamwalkz]

yup for the first 2-3weeks i got to do many big water change. ultimately when the plants are well established it should only require water top ups or very little water change like 1 month 10%.
for the past 3days including today i did 2 50% water change

[Dreamwalkz]

a little update
Lobelia cardinalis "Dwarf" melted and all died
Lagenandra thwaitesii melted too
buceps not doing that well

the rest of my plants are doing quite well seeing new growths everyday
the Nymphaea micrantha (4-color lotus) which i forgot to mention at my first post is growing like mad

[felix_fx2]

Looking very good, most important is foreground plants take off. I suffered alot of "mudclouds" when i had to replant my 1st soil based tank's foreground.
You can add the background/midground along the way.

[Rexfish]

simple and nice...

[Dreamwalkz]

latest update after a trim 2weeks ago.
Marsilea crenata at the left side melt/rotted at the original spot and growing towards the back behind the rock tiny shoots growing near app the the front.
app is growing really well but all creeping towaards the right. maybe because all my floating plants are covering the light on the left.

Looking very good, most important is foreground plants take off. I suffered alot of "mudclouds" when i had to replant my 1st soil based tank's foreground.
You can add the background/midground along the way.

thanks i hope my app starts growing to the left haha

simple and nice...

thanks