Another newbie on the forum

[Andi]

Hello everyone!

The first stop is introducing myself. Well, as a person of varied interests, cactus and (probably more so), succulents are part of the package. My greatest passion is aquariums, mostly planted, as well as plants in general. My kids say I live in a jungle. I guess I couldn't disagree. As you could imagine, aquarium water is loved by all my plants!

I've had many cacti and succulents over the years. Like for many I've managed to kill my share of them. I've gotten much better in keeping them alive over the years, but it wouldn't hurt to learn a bit more on how to do it correctly.

So what brought me here? Well, I have an odd growth on one and my next stop is on inquiring about it in the appropriate board seeing a search got me nowhere.


Hahaha! I think I may be using this smiley a lot. Hahaha!

[gemhunter178]

Welcome! I hope your cacti's water has somewhere to drain? most of them don't take well to a lot water.

[Andi]

I'm confused why you ask. Maybe its because you are unfamiliar with aquarium keeping. The water source for watering my plants is used aquarium water. Every week a portion of the water is removed from the aquariums and replaced with fresh water. I save the used water for watering my plants. The water is chlorine free and contains natural ferts in very dilute concentration. Perfect for some plants, such as cacti and succulents. After watering the plants with low fert needs I add ferts for watering the other plants. I hope that clarifies it.

[hoteidoc]

Welcome, Andi! So does "middle-of-North-America" mean Kansas/Oklahoma/Nebraska-ish? Are you growing any cold-hardy's outdoors? (My currents efforts, since house is filled & I'm renting, so GH of any size is out). I think what Gem was referring to (because that "issue" has come up from time to time) is I think many of us (me as a former parent) with kids' aquarium is some high N-level, fairly foul conditions (because we've inherited the "Oh, I promise to take good care of it" situation), which is definitely a "No-No" for almost all cacti! I have a fair number of Haworthia & many growers work with an (almost) all mineral "soil" and some cactus growers too. So those need to be fertilized most the time, even if at weak levels. So since I'm always learning here, I'll just sit back....& learn

[bluetexasbonnie]

Welcome Andi!

I think fish are great. (Don't have any after the last move and the children are grown.) Succulents are great. (Have a lot more of them since the children are grown and there is more time for plants.) Cacti are great -- have a lot more of them since I moved back home to Texas where they grow wild. A lot more of my time is spent preventing their spread than in expanding their numbers.

Glad you could join us.

[Andi]

First: Not middle of U.S.. Middle of North America -> Minnesota.
I am also a parent with grown children and also living in an apartment. I have 61 plants and 12 aquatic aquarium type setups (glass crocks, vases totes, ect.) in my little 1 bedroom apartment with amazing windows for just about any lighting situation. I desperately miss having a yard where I had a good sized garden and space to bring plants outside for the Summer.
As far as the water quality of my aquariums, maybe a little background would help.
I've been keeping aquariums for about 40 years. I have a degree in Aquaculture. Before moving into my apartment a few years ago I had a 300 gallon fishroom. All of my aquariums have live plants, so nitrites aren't an issue. The plants suck it up too fast. By mild ferts I'm meaning ferts I add for the aquarium plants. I do frequent partial water changes to remove a growth inhibiting hormone released by all the aquatic critters. That way the critters grow faster and larger. The hormone is evolutions way of assuring if the population grows too large that the food will go farther. That's why in over populated lakes the fish are all stunted. Also, with frequent partial water changes the plants can't soak up all the ferts. Thats why there's mild ferts in the old aquarium water.
I've been a moderator on a few different aquarium forums in the past and can understand it's better to be cautionary. People only know what they know and don't know what they don't know. If they haven't had the opportunity to learn either the full story or the correct story, they will assume they already know the correct way. So, thank you for your concern.