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Hi, It is possible to repair the leaking filter head quite easily. Usually the problem lies with either the hose end connectors themselves or the hose connection unit. If its the hose end connectors you'll usually see water on top of the filter housing itself and the best course of action is...

Hi, When it comes to wood and pleco's they don't just suck on it they actually need it as part of there diet. This can be introduced via specially formulated tablets with a high wood content in them such as the pleco tabs form JBL or by ensuring there is sufficient wood available in the tank of...

Hi, Definitely Purigen last in the filter. I tried tights once for Purigen and the stuff leached through the holes so I wouldn't recommend there use, last thing you want in the water column is thousands of tiny plastic beads. I know they are expensive (£10 or therabouts) but the actual 'bag'...

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Hi Clive and Darrel, I appreciate your in depth replies and it goes a long way to setting my mind at rest. I'll admit that a lot of the chemistry goes straight over my head but your explanations are perfectly understandable. Thanks. Chris.

Be aware when buying your filter bag that many will not stand up to being soaked in bleach and will not have a fine enough mesh grade suitable for use with Purigen.

Hi, Not sure I entirely agree with that sweeping statement mate. Anyhow moving on its actually this little gem I'd like more info about. I've often heard that buffers are harmful but haven't yet really heard a good reason why (not one that's satisfied my curiosity anyway). Please can you...

Wrong. Although its not chemical filtration in the strictest sense of the word it behaves much more in this manner than as mechanical filtration. Basically it strips the water of ammonia and nitrite. The more ammonia in your water the shorter it'll last between regenerations.i.e. its very...

Ditto Dan's sentiments. I'll be modifying my working practices with this in mind from now on. Thanks guys for the useful info. Regards, Chris.

Hi Andy, :oops: :oops: I use PTFE tape on anything and everything. Never had a problem and it has helped me out of a jam on more than one occasion. My regulator has taped threads at every connection and its never leaked. That doesn't mean its right though. I'm just a DIYer with no formal...

Hi all , Thanks for saving me a stack of cash. I was just about to replace a pair of Dennerle T5 tubes that are just over a year old and would cost in the region of £50 to replace. I can hear Clive laughing already :) .But I do like the colour that they give off. Maybe they'll be good for...

Hi, Just been looking for some info on fluorescent tube life span and came across this informative post. Most common advice (manufacturers and the MATRIX spring straight to mind) is that you should change tubes every year but looking at the above graph I'm wondering if this is this really...

Hi, OK I'll try at the weekend but I've never posted a pic up on this forum before (or any other forum) and I only have my camara phone to take them with. That coupled with the fact that I'm technically inept when it comes to PC's could take me a while but I'll see what I can do. Regards, Chris.

How very dare you!!!!!! :wink: :wink: :) I love my SAE's. I now have two, a baby 2" 'vixen' and a fully grown 8" inch fella originally named by my loving wife as 'foxy'. I've never yet managed to grow any kind of moss with Foxy in the tank and have completely removed him/her from my planted...

Hi, There's a recipe for algae if ever I saw one.... Regards, Chris.

Hi, I recently had cause to repair a jewel light unit for my daughter which was tripping her electrics due to ingress of moisture because the sealant used on the light unit was so old it had started to come away from the chassis. After some serious searching around and bearing in mind that I...

Hi, Good, its definitely the way to go without a shadow of doubt. Hope things go well for you. Regards, Chris.

Hi, Its not me winning mate its you.... :lol: :lol: :lol: Regards, Chris.

Hi, I wouldn't say that your lighting is all that low. On the face of it you have about 1.7WPG (watts per gallon) of standard T8 lighting. I think that's usually considered to be about mid-high lighting, with 2WPG considered by most as high lighting. A lot depends on your tank though and there...

Hi, Fair enough, if you're getting this much CO2 off a DIY system then you're doing well, but the trick is keeping it stable, especially if you're running the tank with anything approaching high lighting. Are you running this tank as a high tech tank or lower tech with lower lighting? what...

Hi, I wouldn't bother with K2SO4 at all if I were you and purely dose KNO3 and KH2PO4 in quite reasonable amounts. I'd start with about a teaspoon a week of each and see how it goes. You may be able to get away with less especially of the KH2PO4 but if you source it from ebay its cheap as chips...

Hi, I don't mean to be raining on your parade here when I say this but you really should be aware just how dangerous pressurized canisters can be. I for one certainly would be very careful about playing around with the fixtures and fittings if I were you. I'm not familiar with the other co2...

Hi, It would appear in this case that you get what you pay for and the reg you linked to cost £7.50. I think that's where your problem lies having read the thread through. Most of us are using regs costing 10 times that amount and some even more. Regards, Chris.

Hi, A mechanically switched timer like this one would be better than an electronic one for use with a solenoid which although small is an inductive load because its a magnetic coil, when its switched on and off it will cause an electrical spike on the supply which in turn can interfere with...

Hi, Very interesting topic but how does HEEDTA chelator fit into the scheme of things? Is it the same as a DPTA chelator? Regards, Chris.

Hi Nick593 I'm using those exact same ferts from exactly the same supplier and I agree the price does seem to good to be true but why pay 4 times the price when you don't need to? And you get a nice pot to keep the dry ferts in to the bargain. I also use magnesium sulphate (Epsom salts)...

Is there anything you don't know!!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: Legend.

Hi, I'd just keep pestering them, I got one from using that link, a very helpful guy (Andy somthingorother) helped me out. Maybe they are on holiday or just busy, who knows. You could always try calling them if you can find a number for their sales dept.... You could also try taking the reg...

Hi http://www.theaquariumsolution.com/uk-spares Send an email to the link provided on that page and they'll sort you out with what you want. I had to buy one for my D-D reg and if memory serves me right it was about £11 but that was a while back. Make sure to tell them its the High pressure...

Hi gollum456, Yes IMO they really are that good. I'm using the same setup as ceejay and only ever get tiny co2 bubbles (and I literally mean 1 or 2) if I've got the regulator turned up to high. You do't have to pay £60 for one either make one yourself there are lots of accounts of DIY ones...

Hi, If the mist bothers you then change to a reactor. Achieves almost 100% dissolution within the reaction chamber so no fine mist to spoil your view and extremely economical use of CO2 so would therefore pay for itself over time depending on how much you use and how much you pay for it...

Hi, Don't worry yourself about it at all is my answer to the problem. After all we're talking about keeping TROPICAL tanks here. They do have a summer period in the tropics as well which pale our summers into insignificance. Sometimes I may have up to 20 tanks on the go at any one time so...

Hi, Many people seem to have used it to good effesct but some have reported a change in water parameters when using it, I think if I remember rightly a rise in PH and GH. Also many have commented on how light the Manando is and its tendancy to move around in areas of high flow, but check out...

Hi, Are you dosing every day? Do you dose your trace on the same day or alternating days? Do you have pressurised co2 and high lighting with a large plant biomass or is it a low tech tank? We need more info mate but if you are dosing 7 teaspoons of KNO3 and 3.5 of KH2PO4 a week into a hightech...

Don't let Clive hear you talking like that......... :) :)

Oh mate your just the best buddy any planted tank enthusiast could wish for... Another Clive information bombshell to digest. You gotta love em. I understood that explanation in the link provided perfectly thanks again for taking the time to help me and others like me truly understand this...

Hi Clive /all I never doubt your advice mate but I do have a quick question for you though with regard to the above. Why then are we advised when setting up a planted tank to have at least 50% coverage. I always thought that it was so that the plants could out compete the algae for nutrients...

Hi, You could do but things tend to ramble into each other on here anyway, hardly surprising when you consider how closely related it all is really. The Koralias can often be a bit noisy at first best thing is to shake it in the water a bit and turn it on and off a couple of times. It seems to...

:crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: Surely your extracting the urine :!: :!: .

Hi, Its a nice plant and have grown it myself but its not the sort of plant I was advising, it needs high lighting and it doesn't grow very big or very fast. What you need is something which will out compete the algae for the available nutrients, a large fast growing stem plant for instance...

Hi, I never feed food to my fish, dog, kids or wife that has passed its expiry date, and not in that order... :lol: :lol: Its the only way to be certain. I don't disagree that most of the time you'll get away with it but wherever there's doubt bin it. Its not like its even remotely...

Hi Nick593, Yes, Yes and er Yes. This thread explains some of the problems people have had and in the last few posts I've detailed ways that I've solved this issue. http://ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=11561 A lot of people have had replacement parts sent out to them under warranty...

Hi Swan900 Flourish excel and easy carbo are pretty much the same thing and work in the same way, it doesn't seem to matter which one you use although as I understand it Flourish Excel is the original and easycarbo is a product which tries to replicate Flourish Excel. Double dosing with either...

Hi Sebado, Been there done that and know exactly how you feel pal. Good luck with it all and I hope it all goes well. If your anything like me its just big boys toys time.... Next you'll be looking into the Akadama substrate (LOL) if you haven't already got a top notch substrate that is, at...

Hi sebado, Without a doubt go for the 1000 model. I'm running one on a similar sized tank and it works a treat. Because its 'oversized' i.e. rated for tanks up to 1000 litres it copes with the kind of volumes that we are using with consumate ease. So much so that you can remove completly the...

Hi, Yeah that should do it and more importantly lots and lots of large water changes, 50% or more every other day at least. Be careful not to give your fish thermal shock though, try to replicate the tank temp as near as you can with the replacement water. Regards, Chris.

Hi, Sorry bigmatt I don't agree with this as a sweeping statement. Some fish species are known not to be tolerant of high nitrates, Rams, Discus and Angels spring straight to mind but I'm sure there are others. However at least the nitrates that we dose don't come from the nitrogen cycle...

Hi, Personally I use RO water and mix up a months worth at a time. But I'm sure you could use tap water if you had to, I doubt you'd need to dechlorinate it though with such a relatively small quantity. As I said before its as easy as making a cup of coffee. I'm sure if shown how your misses...

Hi Swan900, IMO I'd plant a lot more plants than that and you could kick the BGA in the shins first by overdosing Flourish Excel and doing 50% water changes every other day for a week or two. I'd still dose ferts though whilst doing this but more of them than you normally would just to make...

Hi, Thanks, I've ordered some as the price is very good, the same seller also has some kno3 as cheap as chips (£4.50 per kg, delivered, with a pot to keep it in!!) so that's me sorted for a while, result. :D :D Regards, Chris.

Hi, Is this stuff ok to use in our tanks? It says high grade but doesn't list how high. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1kg-Mono-potassium-phosphate-fertilizer-high-grade-/140429180771?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Home_Garden_Garden_Plants_Fertiliser_CV&hash=item20b23b3f63 Regards, Chris.

Hi, First thing in the morning when I feed my fish, about 6am everyday, Monday-Friday unless I'm off work or on holiday when it gets done as and when. I don't think it makes a lot of difference as long as you only falter briefly when you do. As long as there is more than the plants require at...

Hi Swan900, That's it... Nothing to it really. No hidden gremlins pure and simple. Its no harder than making a cup of coffee. A few teaspoons of this and a few of that, stir/shake, and your good to go. The only thing that you may want to consider is changing your dosing days. I find it easier...

Hi, That still seems quite pricey to me. Try Ebay and just keep looking in on a weekly basis. I know they come up frequently as I get most of mine from there. You'll do well to add it to your 'favorite searches' which makes it easier. Regards, Chris.

Hi, At best expect half the filter rating as a realistic guide as to what you actually get but then all setups are different as previously mentioned. If you really want to know just measure it, put a Litre jug under the outflow and time how long it takes to fill. The maths is pretty simple from...

Hi, I've lost count probably well into the several hundreds possibly even a thousand or more some of which I've culled deliberately, others I've used as food for some of my cats and others just didn't make it. That's assuming of course 'fry' count. Regards Chris.

Hi, :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: Averagewhitebloke, Nutrients don't cause algae!! Reducing them however will. Home test kits especially nitrate ones are totally unreliable, best put into the bin. Regards, Chris.

Hi, First you have to separate the two in your own mind. The Ammonia should return to near zero once the filter bacteria have colonised enough to deal with the new increase in waste, this could take a few weeks depending on the severity of the problem but will sort itself out eventually, if...

Hi, Last time I bought FE's I paid £30 for 10x2kg ones from a guy on Ebay, which made it £3 for 2kg's, thanks to a heads up on this thread:- http://www.ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=11710 I've had several others off Ebay for £5 aswell just keep looking in your local area as they do...

Hi, A possible reason why algae was triggered when you added the plants could be that you disturbed the substrate. This is known to raise ammonia levels which in turn trigger algae spores to bloom. Another ammonia spike was probably induced when you added the fish because it would have taken...

Hi, I change my co2 FE's once the pressure drops to around 30-40psi purely as a safety precaution. Fact is bottle dumps can kill and I am now paying so little for my CO2 (under £5 per 2kg) that its simply not worth the risk. IMO a far better way of doing things is to source cheap CO2 and...

I agree that you generally get what you pay for but I'm still very happy with my EX1200's and I I never eat soggy chips anyway. :) :) :) . I'm running 3 EX1200's which cost me less than 1 similar Eheim filter. Yes I would love to run 3 big Ehiems instead but I simply couldn't justify the cost...

Hi all, I was that newbie you guys have been been discussing 18 months ago and this single statement whilst the others are all undoubtedly true is the one which IMO should be hammered home time and again to anyone attempting EI for the first time. In my mind its manifested itself as the...

Hi, It is possible to repair the leaking filter head quite easily. Usually the problem lies with either the hose end connectors themselves or the hose connection unit. If its the hose end connectors you'll usually see water on top of the filter housing itself and the best course of action is...

Hi, I get on fine with my D-D regulator and wouldn't hesitate to buy another if I needed to replace it, but conversely I know of others who wouldn't touch them with a barge pole, bad experiences with the main internal seal seems to be an Achilles heal for some. I have found the pressure...

Hi, Thanks Darrel that's fascinating, I was assuming, probably wrongly, that Matt was using pure RO water for water changes on his planted tank. I don't suppose I could be a bit cheeky mate and ask you (Darrel) for a quick explanation of osmo-regulation for dummies i.e. me, and what it means...

Hi, Ditto that mate. I do understand kind of why you think it would be of benefit to use pure RO water but I have to question the logic behind that decision. Because I also use 100% RO water but remineralised I know just how easy it is to achieve a predetermined level of both KH and GH and...

Hi, I find that quite alarming Matt, I have always been under the impression that neat RO water isn't healthy for the fish due to poor osmo-regulation properties. I also heat the water prior to water changes (unless of course its warm enough at room temp like it is now) but no longer bother...

Hi, If its a HEEDTA chelator that you specifically require why not get some from Peter Haak, the info is on James website here:- http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/traces.htm I've been using it for a while now and its very good. I never get that clouding of the water that I used to get with the...

Hi, Two weeks on from the last post and everything is going really well with no further issues what so ever. All plants are now showing good healthy growth. Thank you James for the time that you've spent and for showing us the way forward with an economy substrate that works and works well...

Hi, BP stands for British Pharmacopoeia and means that the Epsom Salts are produced to the pharmaceutically accepted grade for internal use, as laid out by the British Pharmacopoeia. If you are intending to use Epsom salt for internal use then this is the grade you need. The BP grading is...

Hi, Zero control and chemical/mineral by-products released into the water column. That's enough of a reason for me not to be interested in them. I also seriously doubt their effectiveness. However I have never used them and to be honest never will, IMO its a complete non starter. First choice...

Hi, Personally I wouldn't touch CO2 tablets with a barge pole and DIY yeast mixes are to messy and unstable to be of any real use. Kind of like the Tetra CO2 diffuser system but the diffuser is a bit of an eyesore in a tank that size and I doubt very much that it achieves a stable co2 level...

Hi, Endlers might be a little tricky to get hold of but most shops will have a range of guppies for sale. Regards, Chris.

Hi Just found this link about FE safety testing. http://www.duddonfire.co.uk/fireextinguisherservicing.php Of particular importance is the two paragraphs titled "Extended Service" and "Unsafe fire extinguishers". Regards, Chris.

Hi, However they can be serviced and re-stamped at a cost depending on where its done and by whom. They can then be refilled. Having said that it would probably work out cheaper just to keep an eye on Ebay for someone selling them nearby. I tend to pay between £5 and £13 for second hand full...

Hi JohnM, Welcome to this forum hope you find it useful. There's a lot of good information on here when you start looking around and people are generally very friendly. Hope you enjoy the site and don't be shy no-one will bite your head off. Regards, Chris.

Hi, I've been using James's 'recipe' for a while now and you only need to dose the water that you add to the tank when you do a water change. Think this thread is in the wrong section though it should be under water quality, maybe one of the mods will move it. Regards, Chris.

Hi, A 400 litre tank is one hell of a big tank to start off with if your learning how to keep plants and could be fraught with potential disasters. Not saying its impossible but its a massive undertaking if your not sure of what your doing. Forget DIY co2 altogether, period, its just to...

Re: Cheap Co2 extinguishers on ebay - local pickup only thou Hi Vaevictus, Thanks for the heads up on that one mate, just ordered 10, that will do me for a while, I still have 5 full 2kg bottles in the loft as well. That's the cheapest I've seen them anywhere, ever. I know they need a service...

Hi, Sorry Dave what I meant is that if you had done a quick GH test reading with a home test kit it would have shown the water to have been different to that from your old house. Unless of course you had exactly the right ammount of extra calcium in the water to make up the short fall for the...

Hi, In my mind all Dave's problems could have been avoided if he had used a test kit in the first place. Its therefore a prime example that test kits do still have a place in this hobby albeit with the understanding that they are only indicators as opposed to accurate results, with the notable...

Hi Bearing in mind its only a 1 foot square tank avoid all barbs as they need more room than this in fact I'd be very careful about putting many fish at all in such a small tank and seriously I still think that a few Guppies would be your best bet. They definitely fit your remit,no special...

Hi, Guppies. Regards, Chris.

Hi, Typical Co2 reactor installation instructions. http://www.aqua-medic.com/products/docs/CO2_Reactor_1000.pdf That's not the only reactor available though but they all work in a similar way and many on here have DIY'ed their own of which there are accounts in the DIY projects section of...

Hi, Thanks Clive I found that clarified a few things for me mate. The 'double helix spiral ladder bit' was way over my head but never the less it makes for very interesting reading. Regards, Chris.

Hi, First just a small point but one worth mentioning I feel. The 'Boyu inline reactor' which you specifically asked about isn't actually a reactor at all its a diffuser. The difference being that with a diffuser the CO2 is forced by pressure through a ceramic film thereby forcing tiny CO2...

Hi, Same as Garuf, I've never had any serious problems with my TT EX1200's either. I'm now running 3 of these on different tanks. OK there was an issue with the hose adapter unit leaking especially with the earlier ones before Tetra realised there was a manufacturing defect but its very easy...

Hi, I'm currently using the JBL CO2 tubing and haven't had any problems so far and to be honest I don't expect any, its been installed for well over a year now. Regards, Chris.

Hi, Everything has settled down really well now and appears to be stable, test kits showing zero levels of both ammonia and Nitrite for over a week now. The tank has a really 'polished' look about it which I'm really happy with but that could be due to the Purigen in my filter the Akadama or...

Hi Laradavidson (/all) and welcome to the forum. Excellent advice. Well that line is anyway. Its quite obvious your new to this forum and quite probably planted tanks and whilst its easy for the rest of us to have a good little chuckle your probably unaware what we're all chuckling about...

Hi, Why not just add some Osmocote or Miracle Grow slow release granules as recommended in the Akadama substrate setup? Surely this will replenish the substrate nutrient wise. Regards, Chris.

Hi, Me too. In fact I now buy all my chemicals cheaply from Ebay sources. Epsom salt is just the common name for Magnesium sulphate, they both have the chemical formula MGSO4. While your at it why not look up Saltpetre which is the common name for Potassium Nitrate, chemical formula KNO3...

Hi Clive / all, Thanks mate for such a brilliant description in both this thread and the one linked to, even I understood it and will no doubt refer back to it often in the future. Going backwards a bit to the OP and having suffered at the hands of BBA myself I must say that in my limited...

Hi, I have no idea what type mine are but I could send a starter culture to anyone who wants some, just pay the postage and make a small donation to this site. PM me if interested. Regards, Chris.

Hi Darrel, Never noticed a problem with them. They do have tiny little wings but they're not able to fly. I can't actually recall ever seeing one 'fly', jump a long way yes, often, but 'fly' no. The thing is they are so dumb if they do escape from the water surface after feeding they go...

Hi, I've always got cultures of wingless fruit flies on the go, there very easy to keep and to feed. Mix 1 Weetabix (crunched up) with a desert spoon full of sugar and a small ammount of bakers yeast with some tank water into a runny paste consistency. Place in the bottom of a large jar and...

Hi, Thanks for that in depth answer Darrel, like Matt a lot of the chemistry behind it is beyond my grasp but I did get the gist of it and it goes some way to explaining things. When I washed my Akadama I put it back into the bags that it come in still wet and it sat outside for a couple of...

Hi Murph, I've had a few plants come up at first but I think that was mainly due to the flow which is about 20x tank volume so considering that it hasn't been too bad. They certainly seem to have stopped coming up now anyway and that problem was mostly confined to the first week or so and to a...

Hi, Kuhli loaches!!!!! They love to dig into substrates and can be very nocturnal. Mmmm.... Maybe Paul is on the right track. When are you dosing your trace elements as sometimes a reaction can occur between the P in your macros and the Chelator of your micros, if its an EDTA Chelator that...