Journal Joel Armstrong - My journey

Yugang said:
This is what I do about once per year. Remove all the soil, I syphon it out, give it a really good rinse in dechlorinated water, and then back in and replant.

For the microorganisms I rely on my canister, which I keep shut down for a few hours, on the surface film on glass and tubing, on the plants and what's living on it, and on what remains in the substrate.

After replanting on the cleaned substrate a few big water changes while applying decholorinater, and only then restart the filter again.

During the process I just keep my fish in the tank, and I have hardly ever lost one. I also have not had algae outbreaks so far, but that may be pure luck, so knock on wood.
Click to expand...
If I were to keep the substrate, I think I'd need to strain the claybreaker out.. during the week I pulled some of the sub out and tried rinsing it in a bucket, the claybreaker just mixes through the sub again, I'd need to strain it. I don't think I can see myself sifting through a 100kg of 2-3mm gravel. Perhaps a job for the kids for some extra pocket money. I just don't know at the moment 😕
 
gjcarew said:
Dang, 100 kilos of substrate!

I know this is the nuclear option but I might just consider replacing it. You can use the existing gravel as mulch for potted plants, and at the very least you won't be constantly wondering if your soil is sabotaging you.
Click to expand...
Yeah, this is exactly what I'm thinking about actually.
What's currently in the tank is Aqua One 2-3mm black silica gravel.
 
Burr740 said:
Sounds like replacing it is your best option. Id want all that stuff out. Theres no reason for you to be having this kind of problem unless something wonky is going on. The claybreaker is something wonky
Click to expand...
Well, I removed all the substrate today.. I was wondering if I should bother rinsing it to remove the wonky crap.. It's impossible to find black diamond blasting sand in Australia.. hence why I bought the 2-3mm silica gravel... it was just as expensive as aqua soil though.. pondering what to do, what sub to go with..
 
That’s a very specific and cheap product, but I’m sure it’s not the only option. Do you have seachem products? The Onyx sand is similar, just not as inexpensive as blasting sand
 
You may be turned off from experimenting right now, but black diamond blasting sand is just the most common brand here. The product itself is just a graded and washed coal slag sandblasting abrasive that should available from other Australian brands.

I found this company Burwell that sells the same stuff under the trade name "black beauty": Sand Blasting Services | Sandblasting Equipment

I'd be willing to bet you either have one of their stores nearby or they could point you to a local distributor.
 
@Joel Armstrong can you show us a picture with the substrate with claybreaker? Are these solid particles/clumps that need to be selected out by hand, or more like clay dust that you can blow and separate from larger substrate particles with a water jet?
 
gjcarew said:
You may be turned off from experimenting right now, but black diamond blasting sand is just the most common brand here. The product itself is just a graded and washed coal slag sandblasting abrasive that should available from other Australian brands.

I found this company Burwell that sells the same stuff under the trade name "black beauty": Sand Blasting Services | Sandblasting Equipment

I'd be willing to bet you either have one of their stores nearby or they could point you to a local distributor.
Click to expand...
Thank you @gjcarew, I appreciate you taking the time to look for me.

I did contact a few local businesses previous to buying the silica gravel actually, and I had no luck finding coal slag.

Previously, I also looked at the Black Beauty product, but it is actually labelled as a copper slag, not coal slag, and I was hesitant about purchasing it.
 
Yugang said:
@Joel Armstrong can you show us a picture with the substrate with claybreaker? Are these solid particles/clumps that need to be selected out by hand, or more like clay dust that you can blow and separate from larger substrate particles with a water jet?
Click to expand...
20240704_182532.jpg

Here is 'some' of the claybreaker that I managed to separate from the substrate. I find it difficult to separate from the larger substrate particles, and considered using a strainer of some sort to try and remove it
 
Joel Armstrong said:
View attachment 5996

Here is 'some' of the claybreaker that I managed to separate from the substrate. I find it difficult to separate from the larger substrate particles, and considered using a strainer of some sort to try and remove it
Click to expand...
You have to pan that out like panning for gold. Very tedious process. Are you set on black? Pool filter sand is really cheap and looks good in a planted tank plus it works. Just a thought. The struggle is real my friend, im with ya, dont give up like I almost did.
 
Joel Armstrong said:
View attachment 5996

Here is 'some' of the claybreaker that I managed to separate from the substrate. I find it difficult to separate from the larger substrate particles, and considered using a strainer of some sort to try and remove it
Click to expand...
Have you tried a bucket with a water hose, so that you blow out the smaller particles and only the larger clean substrate remains?
 
FrankZ said:
You have to pan that out like panning for gold. Very tedious process. Are you set on black? Pool filter sand is really cheap and looks good in a planted tank plus it works. Just a thought. The struggle is real my friend, im with ya, dont give up like I almost did.
Click to expand...
Yes, I had the same thought, "panning for gold" 😆
FrankZ said:
The struggle is real my friend, im with ya, dont give up like I almost did.
Click to expand...
Thank you my friend, I've been disheartened to be honest 😔
FrankZ said:
Are you set on black?
Click to expand...
I do prefer black
 
There's a reason I named my tank journal "My Journey", because I knew it would be just that.... a journey!

So this will be part 2 for me, or perhaps even part 3 or 4.

Anyway, I removed all of the substrate from the tank, threw it into a couple of large tubs with dechlorinated water. I then sifted through all of the substrate using a strainer, a couple of handfuls at a time, like panning for gold.

I considered just dumping the entire substrate, but it did cost me a bit, so I began cleaning it. There was a fair bit of detritus in the sub, and of course...... the damn claybreaker!. I'm still embarrassed about it, but I move on.

So, the cleaned sub is back in the tank now, along with 9 litres of fresh master soil I had hanging about. I wasn't going to add any soil, but after a few too many bourbons one night, adding the soil seemed like a good idea. So there's a layer of soil in the tank as well now. It is what it is. 😬

I spent half hour here and there throughout the period of almost a week cleaning the sub. When I filled a small bucket, I added it to the tank. I kept the filters running, lights and CO2 were turned off.

It's been 2 weeks since I completed cleaning the sub. I did 2 very large back to back water changes afterwards. I haven't cleaned the filters.

Lights and CO2 still off, just letting the tank run for another couple of weeks.

Definitely not an exciting read by any means, no pretty tank pics etc but I thought to document what I've done here.

Boring update above, boring picture below.

20240915_121037.jpg
 
That’s a lot of work to clean up the substrate. Getting all that clay breaker out was probably a good idea. I’m looking forward to see how this works out. You had some good looking plants before despite the issues that I assume were clay breaker related.
 
FrankZ said:
That’s a lot of work to clean up the substrate. Getting all that clay breaker out was probably a good idea. I’m looking forward to see how this works out. You had some good looking plants before despite the issues that I assume were clay breaker related.
Click to expand...
Yeah, it was a bit of work. At one point I was just going to discard the whole lot and just buy soil again, but apart from just wanting to save a few bucks, I thought I could use the experience to learn more, and just try again.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top