substrate

Recently, I bought a new 40lb bag of safe-t-sorb. I followed someone's recipe off the fish forum, this time. Used a ton more baking soda right off the bat:

and then a good large dosing of dry ferts:

Mixed those into the bucket with the first fill of water, after dry sifting out some dust. It bubbled and burbled, I let it sit for almost two weeks, stirring a few times a day.

Then rinsed and rinsed and rinsed and rinsed and rinsed. With tapwater about ten times, then with all five full buckets of tank wastewater from a maintenance day. Then again a few times with freshly dechorinated water, until it was mostly clear. Pleasantly surprised that the recipe worked so well- when I tested water in the bucket after all the rinsing and it had sat another day, the pH was same as the tank. So I think it worked better this time!

Then I took apart the craft mesh wall I'd once made for my window tank, and sewed up a few new planter baskets. Filled them for some new plants, and topped off substrate in the tenner and the 33 Long.