I have general hydroponics flora series, but a lot of people prefer dynagrow because it’s one bottle rather than 3.

Soil roots tend to come away a bit easier, but in general you don’t. I just remove everything that’s brown and mushy. Both can leave behind a skinny white root but it’s more likely to happen with soil roots coming off. If you’re unsure and worried about rot, change the water more frequently to ensure there’s plenty of oxygen.

I don’t really mind the way it looks tbh, but great tip for people that do, thanks!

Thanks so much!

My boyfriend has kept fish for many years and there’s still so many stores selling unsuitable fish. It’s heartbreaking.

Bettas are such great pets – they need to be kept singly (or females in small groups) and are small so don’t need THAT big a tank (compared to other commonly available fish like clown loaches and angel fish), they have amazing personalities, and they’re beautiful.

Seeing them kept in cramped, unfiltered, unheated tanks is so sad. My boyfriend recommends that a betta is kept in a 40l+ tank. Although he wouldn’t recommend them as a great fish for beginners – something like a baddis baddis (we have one that call baddis the bad ass because he’s tiny but rules the big aquarium) or even cherry shrimp would be a better option.

Interestingly, we have a type of killifish that lives very happily in a 27l (he’s about 1cm in length) tank with no heater or filter (they live in small puddles in the wild) perfectly happily. They’re blue with silver spots (v v pretty) and is so so easy to care for but aren’t very widely available. Like bettas, they’re v aggressive so just be kept singly.

Most killifish (most fish tbh) require a heated, filtered tank so I don’t understand why the species we have (paraaphanius mento) is only kept by a very niche group of aquarists. He’s so easy and he’s the cutest little character!

If you’re cleaning the filter, the gross water from that will be awesome for your plants! Monstera are pretty resilient, so hard water won’t faze them! Wait until you have a couple of inches of roots before trying soil, and use a nice airy mix. The reason a lot of cuttings die when transferred to soil is lack of oxygen.

I can’t believe they’ve survived this long on hard tap water haha! I will clean and use some aquarium water today.

Also, I took a cutting from my monstera and left it in the water to grow roots but nothing has happened for a few months. I popped it in damp soil and it shriveled up so I put it back in the water and it’s looking more lively but still no roots. I’ll keep in the water until roots have appeared then dry soil again but keep it quite wet like you suggested.

Thanks a lot! Super helpful