Recent content by paulag

Thanks for your reply. The JBL drop checker (with 4dKH water) is a bright yellow again this evening. The CO2 and lights were off for 14 hours overnight and have been back on again for about 5 hours today with the CO2 running at about 1 bubble very 2 seconds. You can pretty much see the plants...

Will they be ok when I do water changes? I was planning to do regular smaller changes rather than big ones, but I'd be worried about changing the water too much. I got my 4dKH water for the drop checker today and it's currently nice and green. It's been bright yellow with tank water all week...

Pretty sure it is the gravel. I got hold of some vinegar and dumped some gravel in it and parts of it fizzed away merrily. I'm really peed off because that gravel came from two local fish shops (didn't get quite enough from one)and both lots seem to have the same problem. The tank is looking...

When something is cheap someone is invariably paying - in this case it's probably the fish. This hobby is so expensive anyhow can't we just get in the car or on the train and go and get them so that we are sure that they get home safely. And maybe ask a few questions about where they have come...

It sounds interesting but I can't fit a 120l vat in the kitchen and it would need to be quite a long pipe so it still doesn't solve the problem of how you condition and heat 120l of water to do a 50% water change. It's 12 buckets worth. I tried using the kettle when I first filled it and one...

Thats interesting - generally it seems to be very popular to fishless cycle out there. I think it's because many people are desperate to get fish in quickly and quite rightly don't want to use the fish to cycle. As previously said not that keen myself but I wouldn't want to damage my first fish...

I have a microbiology degree and I'm deeply worried about the concept of lobbing high levels of ammonia in an ecosystem as I think it might kill off a lot of the beneficial bacteria apart from the nitrogen cycling ones. So I was wondering if it would be possible to cycle slowly with plants and...

Thanks. I'm planning to take out the fake cave and replace it with one made from a nice piece of welsh slate I have as soon as I've got hold of something suitable for sides. I'll just keep an eye on the water parameters and try to get it settled for a while - I want to be sure that the plants...

I hadn't even thought about the resin cave. What would I do without my tacky resin cave? :lol: It occurred to me that when I filled the tank originally I warmed up the water using the kettle and then stopped because some of the kettle fur was coming out - this might be the problem. I've...

Sadly none of the rocks are limestone or chalk. They're pebbles of slate, quarz and possibly sandstone :( I have some leftover substrates so I'm doing an experiment by putting them in tapwater overnight. Paula

Thanks for the rapid reply. I am going to remove the rocks in case they are the culprit - I might lob them in a bucket of water and see what happens to that water. If it's the gravel there's not a great deal I can do about it as I have no time to change the whole lot before tomorrow. I will do...

I'm totally at the end of my tether. I have a Juwel Rio 240 that has had water in it and the filter running for about a week due to me being unable to get plants locally. I've done an expensive tropica order which is coming tommorow. I've got a JBL Co2 system but it's only been run for about 5...

I've fixed the problem. I got a spanner and had a slight wiggle and tap of the nut underneath the cylinder valve and when I tried again the valve came open easily - it was just stuck. It's bubbling away happily now. Of course I have no plants (on order) so it needs turning off but at least I...

Thanks - I don't hear the sound of rushing gas when I remove the regulator so it does sound like I have a problem with the main valve or an empty bottle. I'd be surprised if it was empty as the system came in a sealed box. How far should the main valve on the gas cylander rotate when I open it...

Hi Guys, I'm a newbie (to both the forum and planted tanks). I've been assembling my JBL M602 CO2 Fertiliser today but I'm not getting any pressure. I've attached the pressure regulator to the external thread of the cylinder valve on the refillable 500g tank and closed the adjusting screw on...