Recent content by davidcmadrid

I think you meant to say anybody who doesnt have experience using a drop checker as opposed to dunces but thats just semantics.

I know it wastes a bit of CO2 but i have an airstone just under the intake to a powerhead on 24 hours a day.

If there is this much build up in the pipes do the innards of the filter get covered in goop also ? E.g The impeller and tubing on the motor part of the cannister. I have taken one of my filters off line and am cleaning it at the moment. Im going to get bottle cleaners in the morning and a piece...

I looked at this as indepth as possible, some of the boffins from the royal horticultural society reckon a bit of green light energy doesnt go astray ( but i decided from the specs they published that the advantage was academic in a tank ) .. many planted tank folk use any old light with great...

James i think i screwed up i have bought Spagnum moss from the bonzai shop and not Spagnum moss peat. I was planning to use it with some Osmocote which i have on order. How thickly or thinly did you spread the osmocote ?

I love Tetras but as a beginner i hated them as they are such proxy for the state of their environment even stress factors , anything goes wrong and they croak it. I can tell if something is wrong in the tank just watching how they behave . e.g swim together or apart ,, hide etc. Good luck...

I started to read up on this and found this in JamesCs guide : Staghorn " Description Grows in strands that branches out. Looks a bit like deer antler. Black to grey/green in colour and sometimes has a red tint. Cause Low CO2 and/or poor water circulation. A tank with overfed fish and...

That is new to me and probably where i show my " noobishness " if its the case. In the end though Algae from the best i have been able to tell so far is a sign the plants themselves are not doing well for some reason. I had algae in my new tank and once i took out the algae infested leaves and...

My guess will be that the pros here will focus on the imbalance between CO2 / light and the lack of Fertz. Without doing the numbers ( as i understand them ) its quite imbalanced especially the lack of added fertilizers for the co2 you are putting in and less so the light ( sounds about 1.2WPG...

Well i planted the ET about 3cms apart and while it is thickening up a little it is mostly spreading. Im not sure i want to plant it more dense than that ?

Hi, I have noticed that a lot of the plants i have that send out runners e.g E Tennelus ( spelling ? ) are sending their runners in a straight line generally speaking across the longest dimension of the tank. This means I am ending up with a lot of " rows " but not very much thatch work if that...

I dont have any experience with the Arcadia unit but i understand that both the Arcadias and Hagens share the same flaw in that there is not individual reflectors on the lamps. I decided against the Arcadia but would have gone with it had it used this individual lamp reflector ( it would have...

Yey ! My Hagen Glo T5ho luminaires arrived today. I am very impressed. I am taking photos and what not and will post a review with piccies later. First impressions are very good. A set is now sitting on my 180 liter and the plants are loving them too :D

When you say add to the " mixture " , just to confirm you are putting the reference in one chamber and the indicator in another ? No that should not happen the indicator solution should be blue.

Because of the associated PH drop that is quite sharp ( i deduce especially if injecting co2 ) given James had to do daily water changes. Im not sure how low the PH can go as a result but perhaps plants wont like the very low PH. Besides i have filters cycling at the moment getting ready so i...