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Long-time lurker in the hobby. I’ve been chewing on an idea for a website (maybe a weekly newsletter too) that’s focused purely on curated aquascape inspiration — not another feed to scroll, but something with an actual point of view: why a scape works, what makes the hardscape/planting choices interesting, styles worth studying, that kind of thing.

Before I build anything, wanted to ask people who’d actually use it:

• Where do you currently go for aquascape inspiration — Instagram, YouTube, forums, contest archives?

• Does that already fully scratch the itch, or is there something missing (context, explanation, curation vs. just a feed)?

• Would a smaller, curated site/newsletter add anything for you, or does it feel redundant with what’s already out there?

• Would you ever visit or subscribe to something like that regularly, or is it a “look at once, forget” kind of thing?

Genuinely trying to figure out if this fills a real gap or if I’d just be adding noise to a space that’s already well served. All takes welcome, including “this already exists” or “nobody needs this.”

Welcome to ScapeCrunch, @Cool81!
We would love to get to know you. Please tell us about yourself. What tank do you have?

My wife and I agreed we'd ideally be moving in the next 6-12 months. There's the possibly it could be sooner if the right place pops up, and could possibly be longer, although not ideal. This has made me pause and reconsider setting up my 120p in this house (and a 20 gallon too!). The thought of having the tank up and running for possibly a short period of time before having to break it down and move it sounds pretty terrible compared to moving all of individual components. I currently have my 75p, so I'm not tankless and would need to move that.

Location would still be in the same general region (20-40 mile radius) and we'd likely maintain overlap between homes for a 1 month.

What would you do?

Started a new tank with the idea of show casing Lagenandra meeboldii which I have not showcased before. Wanted to feature Hygrophila lower Hlaingbwe, but I removed it later as I think it would be too large for this tank.

New substrate, new filter, squeezed filter mulm from the other matured tank, then ran the tank one week day before planting. 100% water change after planting, then 100% water change every other day since then. Dosing 1ml APT3 after water change day, and remineralizing to 5dGH using APT Sky. Trying out the low water column dosing approach for the initial period.

Filter: Oase 250
Lights: Week aqua a430 80%
Substrate: APT Feast

Was going to Journal about startup issues, however, it seems like the tank has already stabilized, skipping diatoms and green dust phase.

Freshly planted for a couple of days:
13/2/2026


Replanted the tops for Myriophyllum roraima, Cut and replanted Rotala blood red to begin building up the bush form. Trimmed old leaves
Foreground seems a bit blocky for now, so I think I'lll move stuff round again. Probably when the BV grows out some more.
Pic on 23/2/2026

Readings at this stage:
Potassium: 2.3ppm
Ammonia: 0.1ppm

reduce water changes to 2 times a week.

Welcome to ScapeCrunch, @JoshEm!
We would love to get to know you. Please tell us about yourself. What tank do you have?

Welcome to ScapeCrunch, @LeoBubux11!
We would love to get to know you. Please tell us about yourself. What tank do you have?

Over the last couple decades, many aquarium products have become "smart". every decent light these days seems to have an app. Filters have apps now. Dosing pumps. Even simple plug in timers have apps. Some of these products come from companies with long-standing reputations (Aqua Illumination, Fluval etc.). Some come from new (at least to the USA) brands with limited presence outside of China or their home countries. And these are often the best products that are either completely unavailable or significantly more expensive from the established brands. But what happens if X Lighting Brand ceases to exist, or stops servicing their apps, or their app has a security vulnerability? What happens if a company pulls out of the US market because of tariffs or simply market uncertainties? What are the chances you pay $500 for a light that is rated for 50,000 hours, but stops working in a year because of some software issue? What happens if a company changes the app into something worse?

I'm not trying to pick on foreign (to me in the USA) companies. I recently sunk a lot of money into AI Prime lights that started making awful high pitched whining noises. Sent them back and forth to the company for repair, finally they told me that it was a firmware problem that they didn't really understand, so they authorized my app to rollback to a previous version. Fixed the problem, but now I can never update the firmware unless they fix the issue in a future update, but I will never know when that happens, or if a future update will create a new issue. (Side note why does a 6-year old product need regular firmware updates?). Plus, it took over a month without my lights as they were in shipping and diagnosis.

Are you concerned about this issue? Do you have brands you trust? Are there workarounds to use a product without the app?

I am working on my mistakes…. The next one will be huge.

Instead of continuing the old build thread, I wanted to make a new one. This build might go just as terrible, but I want to put the old one behind me. I really wish I had given myself a month or two break because I feel like I have algae PTSD. I’m pretty burned out, and I sort of dread trying again. Oh well, too late now.

I wanted to try 2Hr Aquarist stuff, but already had the Controlsoil. I bought it a year prior (see previous journal) and decided to go ahead and use it. Hopefully I’ll make a successful transition to nutrient depleted aquasoil, and then restart with the 2Hr stuff later.

I didn't plan on starting a new journal until about a month in, but since my aquasoil is already starting to give out of ammonia, I need to get it going to get help making the transition to full NPK dosing.

With that said…..

Ben’s Plant Pharm 2.0
(BTW, in case you were wondering, I’m a pharmacist. Hence the pharm)

Setup Date
8-11-25 (Day 0)

Goals
Enjoying some farming.
Successfully navigate the different stages of aqusoil nutrient release and subsequent depletion.

Tank
ADA 60p

Light
Chihiros WRGB Pro II
Starting out at 40% of the Fish setting
Red 53, Blue 34, Green 55, White 23
PAR 105 under the light (estimated)

Substrate
UNS Extra Fine Black 1 x 10L bag

Plants
From Previous Build
Xiris Red from S21 Aquatics
Eriocaulon quinguangulare from Cherries Nature Aquarium

TC plants from Buce Plant
Cryptocoryne parva, Pogostemon helferi, Rotala Sunset
Came in in questionable shape despite paying extra for insulated box. Were very jumbled.

TC from The Fish Room
Alternanthera reineckii ‘Mini’, Rotala macrandra, Gratiola viscidula, Rotala wallichi, Lobelia Cardinalis ‘Mini’

From S21 Aquatics
Synogonthas Vichada, Centrolepis drummondiana (Blood Vomit)

From Aquatic Plants Factory
Pogostemon stellatus Dassen and Rotala Florida? (TBD)

Fertilizer
Micros: Burr Aquatic Trace (BurrFertz)
Macros: DIY- dosages to be determined
PO, K, Mg at the beginning. Been adding about 2-3ppm PO4 daily
Transition to the addition of NO3 as aquasoil depletes

Filter
Oase HOB BioStyle

CO2
Injected via GLA regulator
Bar type diffuser placed inside the HOB filter

Livestock
None

Notes

• The Alternanthera reineckii ‘Mini’ was in bad shape when I opened the container. Might have been bad when I got it and then it was a week before I used it.
• 8-15-25: Added Synogonthas Vichada and Blood Vomit. Checked NO3 for the first time. It was 40. Started making twice weekly water changes.
• 8-18-25: Increased light to 45% of the full “Fish” setting. PAR should be just about 114
• 8-23-25: Pogostemon stellatus Dassen and Rotala Florida added
• 8-29-25: Discovered my NO3 was 0. Aquasoil is giving out way earlier than I expected
• Had a short diatom period, but it seems to be resolving
• I had planned to increase my light to 50% of full "Fish" setting which would be a (tested) PAR of 126, but right now, things are going so good, I don't want to mess it up. We'll hold off for now.
• 8-31-25: Starting to dose my own mixture of NPK and Mg. I really need to determine my actual water volume. What I am trying to dose, and what it tests as after I dose it are a good bit off.

Day 0






Day 1


Week 1


Week 2


Week 3






Here you can see the older Rotala Sunset on the left. On the right is supposed to be Rotala Florida, but it is looking a lot like the Sunset did at the same stage. Argh!


Pogostemon stellatas Dassen changing from emersed to submersed form


Syn Vichada is doing pretty good. It is growing slow. The new growth is all green and the old growth is dying off. I want to cut old leaves and clean it up a little, but right now, I don't really want to disturb it. I watch it every minute. I loving having it.

This thread is for the general discussion of the classified ad Oase Filtosmart Thermo 100. Please add to the discussion here.