Hi I've tried everything from sand ,cat litter ,peat,sphagnum,top soil, and african violet soil. Flourite ,laterite,all sizes of gravel with different compositions to no substrate at all. Undergravel, plenum, heavy water movement to no movement at all.heating cables with and without reverse flow filters. Talk about trial and error lol. What else is there ?? The remarkable thing about all the experimentation is that all these methods work and have serious drawbacks in long term management. IMO the most important thing is LIGHT. proper color,intensity and duration.Next comes water chemistry right elements at in the right amounts at the right time. A good algae management system started as soon as you add water to the tank. You won't stop it but you can keep it in check. Right now ,in the 150 I'm using top soil with a light coating of small gravel and sand. I'm also using natural sunlight and growing only rooted plants. An area near the filter intake is covered with fracted acrylic due to the 1200 gph water movement. So far it has been my most successful tank. I've actually got Lace plants through the dormant period and produced viable seed. No luck with seedling as yet Water changes are at 100 percent per week with rainwater. Might also mention that this tank is conected to two ponds so there is a total of 1500 gallons of water. I could also add that I've had very long lived 10 gallon tanks using cat litter and flourescent light lol. Bring on the contentious discussion !!!! lol gary

The condenser dryers from both Miele and Bosch work as fast and efficiently as a vented dryer. You'd see a vast improvement over the drying results you'd gotten used to with a combo unit. Not only that, you'll be able to wash AND dry full-sized loads. With the combo units you can only dry a load that is half the size of a normal wash load. Condenser dryers are matched to handle full-sized wash loads. An added bonus, and one that few people consider -- with a separate dryer, you'll be bale to do laundry twice as fast. With a combo unit, you wash a load, then you dry it. The appliance is tied up for several hours for a single load. With a separate dryer, you can wash a load, transfer it to the dryer, then while the first load is drying, you can wash a second load. A much more efficient way to do laundry. Hope this helps.

@john how Define "good". Do they provide soft water? Yes, like any other ion exchange water softer that is properly sized and set up, it will provide soft water. The aren't doing anything that makes the water "more soft". Is it more reliable than other softeners? They are probably more reliable than very low-end water softeners, but very reliable softeners are readily available built with industry standard parts for (Fleck control valves, for example) for not much money. Does it provide better value? Value driven customers can probably do better by ordering a Fleck based softer online from Amazon. Do they provide better service? There's a large network of Culligan dealers who can install and service a water softener. If you need that level of service and want a national brand name, they probably aren't a bad choice. Local water treatment companies can also do a very good job, without the cost of a national brand. So, what sets them apart? Water softening is a commodity business - there's no secret sauce. There's no water softer that's going to make your water "more soft". There are some gimmicks out there - such as twin tanks and units that don't require electricity - that don't provide any real tangible benefits. Some of the hardware is better than others. But there is industry standard, highly reliable and highly serviceable hardware available for moderate cost. They have a memorable brand and a dealer network.

Gudang, a lot of people here on this forum started with a heavy dense soil mix, often with compost and other soil components - because that is what is commonly available. Then they noticed that their plants are start to suffer at one point and came here for advise. Al (Tapla) has relentlessly taught the concept for better soil mix, fertilizing, pruning, repotting and many other topics. Most made an effort to follow in his foot steps and found his teachings to be invaluable and succeeded in keeping their plants flourishing. In short, he has a lot of credibility here. Not only that they have subsequently helped others because they understood the concept that no book can offer. Whereas you have yet to offer sound advice with evidence of success. First you have to build and establish your credibility - show your work and explain not only what but also how and why. For example, terms like less porous and more porous does not make any sense - more or less compared to what?