Recent content by criptic

A quick poll, for red cherries, what TDS and temperature do yours thrive at. Also does anyone increase temperature for better breeding - many sources say 25-27. My tank is currently 20-23 (Night drop to day max) and TDS 230. Having about 1 death of adults every week ... They kind of slow down...

Thanks - the sewing ones look good for my tree. My carpet - I can't even get my hand down to it otherwise nail clippers would be great. Might have to stick with cutting it at an angle. I've even looked at cardio surgical tools - interesting angles but not quite ready to pay £40 for them!! I love...

My nano tank cube hasn't much space to angle scissors - I have moss grass and a moss tree that is growing like crazy but I need to trim in very limited space - any ideas how? Aqua tools are not giving me good angle to use eg with curved scissors. I need a kind of chopper that cuts straight...

My water is crystal clear and until then they were moulting and had been berried twice with no problems. Shrimp lets still alive so far. I'm feeding Biomax, no ferts and topping up / water changing with filtered rainwater in a 4-5 hr drip feed method. I've dropped the cooler from 23 to 21 for...

All parameters stable, cooler for temp stability. They all have opaque flesh before death, no obvious stressors to cause necrosis.

I've had a few sudden deaths of adults from what I think is a bacterial infection. I'm going to use melafix and para guard but is there any other product available in the UK over the counter for such infections in shrimp. Thanks Lou

Don't you get lots of insects and bugs in the buckets or do you filter it into storage containers ? My buckets are full of critters after one rain catching session :-/ Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi my tank was planted and cycled for 8 weeks (initiated from my soil). I then gradually added shrimp. (Sat out the bad algae blooms! ) I only have dip test for kH for GH do kH is not really accurate. (PH are liquid tests) which gives me: Ph 8 Kh 4 Gh 14-21 range Nitrite 0 Nitrate 10...

I think I might try this - when you say you filter it through wool and carbon. What sort of product do you mean? A basic filter wool and active Carbon charcoal like you put in an external filter for an aquarium or cooker perhaps? How much carbon? Thanks Lou Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi my Tds is 277-300. I'm keeping various coloured neocaridina incl Rilli. Only a small percentage of adults survived 3 months. No yellow or orange survived. All other parameters good. Using purigen and catappa leaves. The former will take away any value of peat. No shops I can find that sell ro...

Anyone used this? I need to get my 25 l nano (pH 8) down to about 6.8 for my shrimp. Cheers Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I've got millions in my shrimp only tank. Will they take over or can I somehow catch them and feed them to my cardinals and tetras? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My filter has a little spray bar about 1 cm above the water and creates lots of tiny bubbles onto about half of the opposite side of the tank. My 25l ish cube is about 80% plant cover. Flow rate is hard to judge as I'm running through a cooler. The plants in front waft a little. All my...

Earthworms can remain submersed for 3 months without any probs - sounds like getting them out could be tricky! Good luck finding them all! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My tap water is very hard (over 20 degrees) . I'd like to soften it if possible. I've heard Almond leaves and rain water can be used to mix it a bit/ top up. Has anyone ever used these to actively soften the water more naturally? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk