Recent content by san-ho-zay

Maybe. Different plants are different though and swords are pretty voracious when they get going. If we say your 1/2 tsp is a generous 3g, Equilibrium is 2.41% magnesium so that's 0.0723g per week, which is ~0.3mg/l magnesium per week in a 250 litre tank. JamesC's site suggests adding 5-10mg/l...

Are you adding any magnesium? I believe your water is really soft? http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/deficiencies.htm

+1 for less light, more CO2 and more ferts. Java Fern can be a bit of a dirt ball as well so it's worth giving it a poke and a prod before a large water change, including vacuuming and perhaps trimming the roots if they get too long. Same goes for moss if you have it. With vacuuming I guess you...

I shall leave the CO2 and ferts question for Clive but I'd add that these plants are quite soft and leaves can show a legacy of damage from transit or planting. Some fish might also like to have a nibble or maybe just a taste of them, which can account for ongoing creases.

I ordered calcium nitrate from Fluidsensor Online. There's a link on the forum home page in the Sponsors section but, as I type, it's not working. If it's not just me I'm sure they'll have it back up soon. http://www.fluidsensoronline.com Hopefully your postman actually knocks before leaving a...

You don't have to clean inline diffusers every week either. :thumbup:

I've failed with CO2 in the past and it's been because of this sort of logic. If the cost per bubble is worrying you, you should get a bigger bottle or find cheaper ways of getting it refilled. Honestly mate, you can't have a mental block that stops you getting the tank to the optimum levels for...

Salt is a good preventative against nitrite poisoning. I don't mean the quantities that used to be ladled into tanks in the past -- a tiny amount like 1/10 tsp per 100 litres is all that is required. It's the chloride ions that do the job -- I don't quite understand the process but they stop the...

Sounds pretty conclusive it's a bad solenoid then. I've got two of the Lunapet ones and they've been good over 4-5 years. I got them because the recommendations were that they were so reliable. Maybe you just have a duff one? Personally I'd get Lunapet to replace it and spend the £60 on plants.

My solenoid has an arrow on it, i.e. there's a right way and a wrong way to connect it up. I've never checked to see what happens with gas the wrong way but, if you have an arrow, have you got it the right way?

Not necessarily. It will show 50 bar when it's full and stay at 50 bar until its almost empty, then you'll see it drop. It will still last a while but then you need to keep an eye on it. Something like this: Time ---> 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 40 30 20 10 0...

Looking good! :thumbup: Exactly that happened to me. I put an extra non-return a couple of inches back from the atomizer so there's no back-flow even when the CO2 is off or disconnected. A full tank shows 50 bar and it will only start to drop when there's no liquid CO2 left in the bottle...

Great job! All those stems and all that light must mean it's like painting the Forth Road bridge! :shock: I'd be interested to hear more about how you use that lighting.

You should consider just dosing dry powders Richard. The quantities for 200 litres are easily measured into a jug of tank water with a teaspoon and then you wouldn't need ascorbic acid, potassium sorbate or distilled water.

It's not a gourami thing AAB, it can happen to any fish as far as I know. Barbs often go this way in my experience.