Yeah fermentedhiker - you never know quite how long it is going to take for the soil to settle when it is submerged. My first attempt at NPT/Walstad/El Natural/Dutch Method was a complete and unadulterated disaster. I can give you more info on what went wrong if you would like.
If anyone is interested in the NPT/Walstad/El Natural/Dutch Method, there are several good sources. "Ecology of the Planted Aquarium" by Diana Walstad is a great read - I go back to it often. The El Natural forum (http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/el-natural/) on APC is good and Diana at one time was the moderator there. She still posts once in a while. The Low Tech Forum (http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/low-tech-forum/) is also interesting. I post here quite a bit and, frankly, posted about the bacteria issue because the other forums I linked above don't get the traffic AC gets and I needed a quick answer.
I should mention I was a confirmed high tech guy after I started keeping plants. When my plants first went south, I latched on to the advice to get better lights, ferts and pressurized CO2. I had awesome plant growth, but I got tired of trimming tanks 2x per week and all of the time on maintenance. So I went super low tech. I love how easy it is when things get going, and I love the chemistry aspects of trying to understand the ecosystems. People also need to know there are other methods than more lights, more firts and a CO2 tank. Those work awesome - but there is the slow growth way if you are patient and don't want to trim and replant your tank daily.
I will post a couple of pictures.
If anyone is interested in the NPT/Walstad/El Natural/Dutch Method, there are several good sources. "Ecology of the Planted Aquarium" by Diana Walstad is a great read - I go back to it often. The El Natural forum (http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/el-natural/) on APC is good and Diana at one time was the moderator there. She still posts once in a while. The Low Tech Forum (http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/low-tech-forum/) is also interesting. I post here quite a bit and, frankly, posted about the bacteria issue because the other forums I linked above don't get the traffic AC gets and I needed a quick answer.
I should mention I was a confirmed high tech guy after I started keeping plants. When my plants first went south, I latched on to the advice to get better lights, ferts and pressurized CO2. I had awesome plant growth, but I got tired of trimming tanks 2x per week and all of the time on maintenance. So I went super low tech. I love how easy it is when things get going, and I love the chemistry aspects of trying to understand the ecosystems. People also need to know there are other methods than more lights, more firts and a CO2 tank. Those work awesome - but there is the slow growth way if you are patient and don't want to trim and replant your tank daily.
I will post a couple of pictures.
