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Evening, Just looking at some plants online and I have seen Cryptocoryne for sale attached to rock. I thought they had to be planted into the substrate? Could anyone let me know if they can grow attached to something and above the substrate? Many thanks.

I was cleaning out my water butt every year. Primarily because of the bugs that got in and invariably died. The last time though I completely sealed the lid so virtually nothing can get in through the top. I collect the water from a large shed roof so I also jammed some foam into the top of the...

I’m in Yorkshire but my substrate (Tropica soil) is likely to affect matters? Latest from Yorkshire Water gives calcium at 128.3mg/l - very hard.

Mammoth Amanos or tiny cichlids…

Hi all, I'm pretty sure that is what the last Mammoth hunters said, just before they killed the last Mammoth. cheers Darrel

If you ever wanted cichlids Amanos wouldn’t get eaten. Mine were longer than my cichlids..

Great effort, looks really nice - no doubt it will look even better once it's matured some. Are you trying to say you're using a PH controller for the CO2? Don't see much wrong with that, though I haven't used one myself. The drop checker should give you a solid indicator if you're around 30PPM...

Yes, remove them for exactly those reasons.

What started with a few Amazon frogbits and red rooters is starting to get out of hand, which is why I am happy to give them away if anyone is in Edinburgh and it's surroundings! Those plants that are fully immersed, should I just remove them straightaway? Not sure if they may die sooner than...

I'll also mention while I'm here an observation and hopefully prediction that I have made. It starts in the summer of 21 when we had a really massive population of cinnabar moths locally but since then I haven't seen a single one. In 22 we had the 6 month plus drought and extreme temperatures...

I know Darrel has already mentioned Prof Dave Goulson but he's a bit of a hero of mine and this video is criminally underwatched considering how important the subject is. It really is a eye opening chat that I urge everyone to listen to just for the statistics, like oranges grown with 27...

If it has red eyes then its an albino tinfoil barb but if it doesn't have red eyes then they tend to call them golden tinfoil barbs. Either way they get big.

dKH of 3 is fine for neocaridina, but is on the high side for caridina. I still haven't found a convincing use for measuring TDS. 😉 The GH and KH values you listed do not correspond to what I would describe as 'very hard'. What does your water report say / where in the UK are you located?

When cutting large plants like echinidorus, I also often use my nails even though I have about 3 different styles of scaping scissors :woot: Tank is looking great, love all the echinidorus, going to be using a bunch of them in my tank also. You've done well to still have a solid visual on the...

Thank you @G mac it’s been really enjoyable and I look forward to it growing in, I’m thinking maybe 4 weeks then fish. Going to use the time to dial in the CO2 not sure if I have made a mistake but going down the ph control route, light set to 20%, 6 hours a day

You've done a great job, looks good and will most likely look even better once established.

Decided 6 months ago I wanted to get an aquarium for the front room, after lots of research and the fact in the opposite alcove I have bioactive crested gecko vivariums I started to plan my first aquascape. Aquarium size dictated by alcove size and I decided I wanted to go high tech and automate...

Hi all, All sizes swim about, which is probably why they don't tend to last with any micro-predators, however small. Try a bit of cooked vegetable, something with some colour (Green bean would be ideal), and all sizes will probably accumulate on it. cheers Darrel

No, just tap water with Seachem Prime.

Your GH and KH is fine for RCS. TDS a touch high, but weren’t you mixing RO with tap?

Look up albino tinfoil barb - is that a closer match?

GH= 8d KH=3d TDS=based on water supplier, about 400 (I don’t have a test for this). Bear in mind my test figures are based on the dip-strips so may not be entirely accurate! My tap water is very hard though.

Hi, Anyone know what is the name of this fish, I’m trying to find out for my friend I tried searching online. There is all I get is Tinfoil barb but not sure it is.

If you get, say, 10, you will have a mix of male and female and they'll start breeding. Once my asking what your water parameters are so that you give them the bets chance. Their bio load is very low, so you can have lots of shrimp.

If it works, it works!! Ill give this a go as well. Does give you a 'feel' for what you are doing above and beyond the detachment of cold hard steel scissors!

If @TT0885 can slowly open the valve without regulator attached and see if gas flows without doing anything else. But hold the bottle very firm and make sure no one or nothing is standing in front of you. If it starts releasing the gas then you have standard valve like on my bottle.

Same here, using Adam’s gas for many years and it was always as simple as just connecting regulator, opening bottle valve and just checking for any potential leaks. That’s it, there is nothing to press or touch or remove.

Hi All, A brief update: The fish in question's white spots show positive signs of reduction after just 6 days. They are still there, but 30% of what they were before, with no medication. This supports the Lymphocystis diagnosis, which means it was great to consult this community and get a...

Not sure how many I could get in a 58l tank, but I can certainly ask if they’d do a discount.

Ha you’re not alone! I do exactly the same with my bush of crypts Wendetii green. Just impossible to cut a leaf without cutting another or two. Nails do the great job 👏 Is that a new trend in aquarium plants trimming? 😂

As already mentioned remove the outermost leaves and I know it sounds a bit weird but I usually time the removal of said leaves just before I trim my fingernails and use my thumb nail to sever the stem at substrate level or just below if possible, I occasionally use scissors but usually end up...

I found when I purchased them from my LFS that if I purchased my RCS in bulk I got a 'much' better price buying at least 30 at a time. Can't remember the price but it was a substantial drop in price. I just ask how many do I need to buy to get there best price

a cheaper option then (cherry shrimp 6.99 each at my LFS)!

More fish photos today I usually split a novotab and stick one a little higher up so that the little hastatus can get to it but it seems like the other fish are learning 20241109_172855 by Lenny Lim, on Flickr Hoplisoma caudimaculatum looking nice 20241109_173131 by Lenny Lim, on Flickr...

Hi all, They perform the same role as Cherry Shrimps, they are just a lot <"lot less pretty">. cheers Darrel

This insert looks to be removable.

I think they are doing OK. Whilst there is growth, it is starting to look unruly! Hence, I wanted to trim to create some space at the top for aesthetics, flow purposes and reduce shading for the plants below. I also need to increase my clean-up crew, as the white sand is showing signs of...

I’d recommend reading the Gendered Brain by Gina Rippon

Plants are looking nice and healthy ! 👍

Thanks. I’ve read they prefer to live in groups and as my tank isn’t the largest, not sure they’d be a wise choice?

May I add another thing. I think with the wildflower meadows its worth making a flail on a stick to hit the hay with to knock the seeds out the pods but that might be a bit OCD. Just like threshing wheat in the old days.

It might be rough. But I know there won't be a massive disaster. I think we will all come together in the nick of time to save all this. I just feel it.

What about psychopathy... That's wired differently too... But that is more politicians?? Bit of a crap topic to be honest... But people like that aren't always necessarily bad. I met a few in the past who were normal people and I honestly thought they were autistic at first... Also high...

Amano shrimp built like a tank are very nice.

You can get a very deep coloured red cherry shrimp called a Bloody Mary. I bought some on eBay worked out about £3 each - If you buy direct from there Facebook page you get a cheaper price. Best Aquarium Shrimps UK Could t have been happier - I love the colouration mine are thriving. I bought...

Thanks for your thoughts! I agree about the left. Tbh I had to take all the wood out to catch Kribs to re-home and rushed to get them back in and the left didn't sit properly so I just left it for now. I had it like this before and preferred it except the one piece cutting diagonally across...

I really like the right side wood so would not change it. I also love the three stone position you have. I agree the left side wood looks a little off. Perhaps it’s the gap between the wood and the glass. Or maybe it’s too upright. I’m still new to this so you may get better opinions.

Already got some great advice, plants are looking healthy and growing nicely since I last seen this tank, got a full tank shot?

Red Cherry Shrimp. Very pretty. Check out prices on line. In my experience they’re among the more reasonably priced. What are your water parameters in terms of GH, KH and TDS?

Evening, I’m not planning on having any fish in my planted 58l tank, so I’m looking for suggestions of possible inverts I could have. I currently have a couple of nerites, an assassin, a couple of ramshorn (the assassin has claimed two) and plenty of bladder snails. I’m thinking of obtaining...

Once in 6-8 month I trim all leaves, putting some root tabs under the root and new leaves grow really nice.

Edinburgh. This year it never stopped raining. I barely had to water the garden so only used the butt for the shrimp tank which is only small so it didn’t run out. In a hot summer it may dry out at which point I’d switch to the tap. We’re not short of water up here.

If you are not connected to the downpipe you are going to miss out on most of the crap from rooves and gutters like leaves and moss and bird poo. Also, you probably go dry most summers in that situation? Perfect time to rinse out any accumulations. I wouldn't usually clean water butts more than...

Hi all. Just in the process of doing a nature style scape on this second hand 4ft I just picked up fully stocked. Its very heavily stocked and had no plants in so I'm in the process of getting stock levels down (Kribensis 🙄🤣), and have added a load of Red Root and Amazon frogbit plus chucked...

I’ve never thought I should maybe clean my water butt out. Should I? I use it for top offs and water changes in my shrimp tank. It’s not connected to a down pipe. It is just open to the rain in winter and then the lid goes on in the summer. I’ve got a mesh lid to keep the crap out in winter...

How often should I clean the pipes and filter media?

Shelf is now ready, sadly I had to uninstall a bunch of the aluminium profile to get it in. Now to get the cutouts measured for the bottom shelf :)

Yea that was sort of SOP in the DIY world.. 2 parts low cri 6500k-ish white.. 1 part red richer 4000-ish K white. Covered all the important bases, lower k for sunset/sunrise. Higher k for "daylight". ADA always favored green lights. Even had green tinted metal halides. That green is mostly for...

Flow will probably decrease slightly more once the mechanical media starts performing and the pipes etc develop a film.

Just have to make sure the little seal is the correct way round with the shorter spigot mounted within the spring, pretty basic really. If it is assembled correctly then have a look at the seal, maybe try a very thin film of silicone grease or at least that is what I would do.

Hi all, I look on <"Daphnia in rainwater as an advantage">, but some sieve them out. If you daisy-chain two butts together (like the two on the left) it means you can draw water from the second butt (furthest away from the down-pipe) and you can also clean each butt alternately, without losing...

I broke down a smallish tank which never got the substrate cleaned. Under the sponge filter there was a pile of mud with what looked like big 4inch long earthworms in a ball. Presumably turning mulm into worm castings / mud. Far too big for the Galaxys and Endlers to snack on.

Some update for the tank: Seems like the hair algae was improving lately a bit, but the overall plant health/growth was very bad, so after a lot of frustration I decided to rescape/reset the tank. The reason was that I continued to remove leaves covered by hair algae, but at one time I have...

yes I threw away 30 liters then I prepared my water and I did a change of 40 liters and the ppm was low if I'm not mistaken 12 but now it's at 135 140 ppm what do I do?

New to rainwater/ tapwater mix,rainwater coming off of concrete?.tiles, (standard roof tiles,)running into. plastic water butt.is it enough to run rainwater through sieve before use or do i need to do more? Thanks

Totally what I do as well on my own swords. That, and leaves that - for whatever reason - are not thriving I nip off with my pruning scissors. Cheers, Michael

I use the 3.15Kg cylinders from Adam’s gas and have never had a problem. There is nothing inside the thread that need to be pressed to release the gas, so not sure what was happening with yours.

https://www.reuters.com/graphics/GLOBAL-ENVIRONMENT/INSECT-APOCALYPSE/egpbykdxjvq/ Cheers, Michael

I take it you ran water though it for some time ? as it can take some time for the reverse osmosis to work/kick in

I'm starting to see my crangonyx all the time now and can usually spot a couple whenever I look so I assume they are multiplying. There must even be quite a lot of them if I can always see them but I've still never once seen a baby or intermediate size crangonyx other than when I introduced the...

I'm pro worms. It's cool how a population of blackworms in the substrate will move around to wherever you feed like this and I think there are several advantages to having them in a tank. I've got at least five different species of worms living in my substrate. I think we've all probably got...

It's not relevant to OP's situation but for anyone reading this I found through the process of breeding and raising a lot of scarlet badis that some of them are absolute beasts at consuming hydra and were capable of quickly clearing an entire tank. Some of them never learn to do it at all...

Hi, I purchased the membrane for this system, new carbon and sediment plus resin, always Arka. I only made two changes of I measured the ppm, it was 135 ppm. Is it possible that the membrane arrived broken?

I did that at first but I only had golf ball sized beetroot. I want to get rid of the stones and experiment with building back up soil that has been destroyed. Although maybe I could just sow a cover crop and wait a few years for the soil to build back up to do that.. I imagined if I got my...

I’m I wonder how deep it goes…

Thank you! I will proceed as directed.

Hi Bradders Amazon swords grow from the middle so you can remove leaves from the outside! Personally, I would only remove two per plant at a time. You can always add a root tablet/ball/stick if you have them, to help with new growth.

There should be a thick nylon washer which acts as a spacer and seal, it should come with the regulator but you can get spares.

What a great story including beautiful handwriting! https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cje0x5j7wgjo hoggie

Good stuff glad you got it sorted out! :thumbup: Thanks for getting back to the UKaps for future reference.

UPDATE RESOLVED: Thanks for all the help, I went back to the stockist this morning and picked up a 1.5kg bottle - this one works! On close inspection, this one does in fact have a shorter connection distance to the cylinder than the 3.15kg bottle - bizzare! It seems the issue was simply depth...

Thanks for this, could you send a picture of what the inside of the co2 cylinder attachment part looks like - ie does it have the diamond shaped thing that needs to be pushed in to release the gas?

I have a 750ltr tank barebottom plants are all in pots, co2, heavy bioload I vacuum every day do water changes twice a week 50- 70%. I use APT2hr aquarist fertiliser 10mls every 2nd or 3rd day, fluval plant light running at 60%, 8am -5pm. I struggle with BBA. I also have plants in my sump

I use Adams Gas 1.5Kg cylinders and a Strideways Dual Stage and don't have this issue. (You have the bigger brother(s). I cant really see a difference, or imagine what the CO2 cylinder would be different unless the valve is faulty on the cylinder. The only way to test (VERY VERY carefully...

Here is a thread previously, a member having issues with the same Company! https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/co2-gas-cylinder-help.64579/

No worries, thanks for your help anyway - I've sent them an email with some of these photo's to see if they know the answer. Thanks Tom

Hi All, I read a few threads on this, but I still need a bit of confidence and direct advice! Today is maintenance day and I need to do something with the plants which have grown, and either touching the surface or very nearly doing that. They are becoming thick, so also worried about...

Not that I'm aware of, I'm not an Adams Gas user being a bit in the dark about their cylinders!

A supplier called Adam's gas - CO2 for Aquarium Plant Growth - Adams Gas

Where did you purchase the Co2 Cylinder from?

Hi, Ok understood, thanks. However I don't understand how the gas gets released then, as it only comes out when the star-shaped piece in the attached photo gets pressed in? When I connect it up as suggested and turn everything on, nothing happens because nothing is pushing on the described piece...

Yes i understand. Sometimes you can also see clear flowlines on the water surface. Going one direction on one side and going the other direction at the opposite side. We will see how this turns out.

Hi bazz, you did not missed it, i did not tell. It is the aqua medic 1000. I am outside spec with flow but I hope this will not be a big problem. Maybe the turbulence will be a bit less but as long as there will be no CO2 bubbles coming out on the outflow i will be happy. Otherwise i have to...

Hi Tom The above part does not go inside the threaded part! It sits on top flush, then tightens up with a spanner. This is the correct configuration below.

Sorry if I've missed it but what reactor are you intending to use?

go to core setting and swap it out for Ammonium Nitrate - we did it so any suitable AIO salt can be easily added, There is three to choose from ATM

Hi, Thanks for the message, if you see the attached picture, I think that even without the rubber washer, the nose/nipple of the regulator isn't long enough to reach the back of the cylinder part and release the gas. I've put quite a bit of force on it and had someone else try too - however as...

Hi all, It sounds like they are a sequence of river deposits, probably as the river originally wandered over it flood plain. The deepest soil layer sounds like it was laid down in a fen or wet meadow. In undisturbed soils dark colour relates to the amount of organic matter and the darker the...

All looks correct, the female part should have a little 'end float' until the nut is tightened, the end float will disappear when it bottoms out when tightening the nut, then the nut will get resistance as it compresses the washer and it will soon feel very solid. need to put quite a bit off...

Hi there, Thanks for your message - I've attached some pictures of the regulator attached to the cylinder, but let me know if you need to see from different angles etc. There isn't any clash with the black collar, it seems like the length of the cylinder attachment part is too long/ has too many...