Recent content by Papillo

Thanks. Used to get mine from Shirley Aquatics but since the store relocated, and now I longer work in Birmingham, I have switched to liquid CO2 only.

Kirsty I see from your posts that you are based near Kidderminster. Quick off topic question: where do you get your CO2 refills?

Thanks for the replies. I have replanted Crypts many times before, sometimes get some melt but I have never seen new growth looking so stunted for so long. The leaves are very small and narrow and the hairgrass would make a good bowling green! It was actually the end of Jan that I replanted ...

A couple of months ago I upgraded an 8 year old 80 litre low tech jungle style aquarium that had a gravel substrate with a small amount of peat and laterite, was lit by 2 old T8's, filtered with a Fluval 2 internal, and with no ferts or CO2. This aquarium was planted with various Cryptocorynes...

Ceg, Thanks, the thread you provided the link for answered my questions. I wasn't disputing the general principles of the EI method, certainly since I started concentrating on achieving healthy plant growth the health and longevity of my fish has improved in step and the recent incidence of...

I am certainly not going to dispute the somewhat arbitary nature of the association between HITH and nitrate levels as this disease has been linked to a whole range of factors none of which have in any way been proved. My question really was should we really be adding fertilisers to water where...

I may have missed this somewhere in this discussion, but my local tapwater report says that nitrate levels average 23 ppm. Given that I carry out weekly 50% water changes should I still be dosing KNO3? I query this because I followed the EI method for several months and plant growth was...

Thanks Arron and Steve, an 80 cm unit it is for me, but it sounds as though a 45 cm may be just a tad too short for you Chris. Perhaps you will be able to stretch that extra few cm or so out of it somehow.

Does anyone know how much 'play' there is in the fitting of these Arcadia units generally? I am considering getting one for a 30 inch tank. Should I go for a 60 cm or a 80 cm model?

Thamks for the input guys, trouble is I'm now back where I started :? As far as lighting is concerned A twin unit will probably be OK but seperate lights may be better. As far as cost/convenience is concerned a twin unit may be preferable. So now I'm dithering again! Any other input to help me...

OK it seems that seperating the tubes is the way to go but if I buy two seperate units like the D-D razor it makes it more expensive. The alternative is to to buy a seperate starter unit, bulbs and reflectors which would be cheaper, but then it would be better in my setup to fix these to the...

Yes, I'm talking about 54w 120cm lamps along the length of the tank. It seems to me that if I buy one of the twin light units such as D-D or Arcadia the lighting will be concentrated in a narrow strip down the middle of the tank, leaving the background and foreground plants relatively short of...

I am planning on retro-fitting some T5's into my hood over my 4ft x 18' x 18 ' tank with the lights about 10 cm above the water surface . My question is will I get an even spread of light if I use a twin tube unit or would I be better off getting two or three seperate lights so that I could...

I think I still want the sand - I like to see the full range of behavior in my fish. So how are you finding your split substrate? Are you getting much mixing of the AS and sand?

Nice tank Ed, I am about to set up something similar for Rams and Apistos. My instinct is, like you, to go for a sand substrate to enable the Rams to dig spawning pits and the Apistos to dam up their caves but I am also contemplating using a commercial baked clay type substrate for the sake of...